Miscues, missed opportunities catching up with Dodgers  —  LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Dodgers navigated the 2018 regular season as a persistent enigma.  They were loaded with talent and rich in depth, clearly and significantly superior to the vast majority of their competition.

Enrique Hernandez calls out LA Dodgers fans after Game 3 for having ‘no energy’  —  The Los Angeles Dodgers, particularly the offense, fell flat in Game 3 of the National League Championship Series.  —  The offense went -for-10 with runners in scoring position and struck out 14 times …

Manny Machado still has work to do if he wants to keep the focus on his performance  —  Performance is not the concern with Dodgers shortstop Manny Machado, who is again crushing baseballs after a 1-for-12 start to his postseason.  No, the concern with Machado — in the National League Championship Series …

Role players give Astros pop through the lineup, championship edge  —  The dramatic turnaround of the Houston Astros franchise from historically bad — they were the second team in MLB history to have three consecutive seasons of at least 106 losses — to world champions in just five years …

Alex Bregman trolls Red Sox starter Nathan Eovaldi with Instagram post  —  The Astros third baseman, who faces Boston Red Sox starter Nate Eovaldi on Tuesday night, showed a clip on his Instagram account with the Astros hitting three consecutive homers off Eovaldi earlier this year when he was still with the Tampa Bay Rays.

We dare you not to walk Alex Bregman  —  If Alex Bregman were homering as often as peak Barry Bonds, we wouldn't say the Red Sox were giving him the Barry Bonds treatment.  We'd just say Bregman was hot, or had somehow become as good as Bonds, and that no amount of effort on the part of Red Sox pitchers has been able to stop it.

Pearce on Bregman: 'We'll see who is talking at the end of the series'  —  HOUSTON — The conversation bubbling to the surface on workout day at Minute Maid Park Monday had little to do with actual baseball.  Instead, it was all about Instagram.  —  Following a brief batting practice session leading …

Despite losing Game 2, defending champs Astros still swaggering  —  HOUSTON — By his nature, Houston Astros manager A.J. Hinch does not sound like a cocky man.  He's analytical, insightful and pleasant in demeanour.  —  But with a team as good as the one he oversees — a team that's deep …