Start spreading the news: the Boston Red Sox are the 2018 World Series champions.
In Game 5 of the World Series, the Red Sox defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-1 at Dodger Stadium Sunday night, allowing them to win the World Series 4-1 in games.
With Game 5 approaching Sunday night, the Red Sox were leading the series 3-1.
Boston started David Price, a starting pitcher who has been silencing critics of his past postseason performances: Price made a total of nine postseason starts before this October and his only two playoff victories came in relief.
Despite Price’s history of negative criticism, Boston manager Alex Cora knew that Price was a solid asset to the team.
“There’s a lot of people that gave up on him throughout the season,” Cora told The Boston Herald. “A lot of people that gave up on him after his outing against New York. But we knew that he’s one of the best pitchers in are the Big Leagues, and he cares, he wants to win, and finally he gets his World Series win.”
At the top of the first inning during Game 5, the Dodgers were down 2-0 after a single by left fielder Andrew Benintendi led to a home run by first baseman Steve Pearce.
Dodgers infielder David Freese would hit his own solo home run on the first pitch Price threw that night, cutting the Red Sox lead to 2-1.
Despite this hiccup, Price was locked in for the rest of the game, pitching a full six innings without giving up another earned run.
Price said it was satisfying to break his winless postseason record.
“I hold all of the cards now, and that feels so good,” Price said in a post-game press conference. “I can’t tell you how good it feels to hold that trump card. You guys have had it for a long time. You played that card extremely well, but you don’t have it anymore.”
To cap the performance by Price, Boston put three more runs on the board during the game.
Outfielder Mookie Betts hit a solo home run in the sixth inning, outfielder and designated hitter J.D. Martinez hit a solo homerun in the seventh inning, and Pearce hit yet another home run in the top of the eighth to give the Red Sox a comfortable 5-1 lead.
Red Sox ace Chris Sale pitched the bottom of the ninth with this 5-1 lead and struck out the side, striking out Dodgers third baseman Manny Machado for the World Series-winning out.
Boston faced a foe in the Los Angeles Dodgers familiar with the World Series.
The Dodgers were ready to redeem themselves after losing a seven-game World Series against the Houston Astros in 2017.
“We’re going to the World Series again,” Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig said after his team clinched the National League West Title Oct. 1. “And this time win the World Series 2018.”
The first two games of the World Series were held at Fenway Park.
Both of these games were tied in the bottom of the fifth, and both games saw the Red Sox grabbing a lead they would not lose in the bottom of the fifth.
Through 11 postseason matches, Boston posted record-breaking stats with two outs and runners in position.
In Game 3 of the series, however, the Dodgers were able to outlast the Red Sox in an 18-inning marathon at Dodger Stadium.
A walk-off home run in the bottom of the 18th from Dodgers first baseman Max Muncy allowed the Dodgers to win the game 3-2, which cut the series lead to 2-1.
The Dodgers had a chance to tie the series in Game 4. A deadlocked pitching duel between Rich Hill and Eduardo Rodriguez ended in the bottom of the sixth when Puig hit a three-run home run, which capped a four-run inning for the Dodgers.
Despite only having three innings left to take back the lead, the Red Sox showed why they led MLB in RBIs and batting average during the regular season, scoring nine runs within three innings and giving the team a 9-4 lead going into the bottom of the ninth.
The Sox ended up winning this game with a final score of 9-6 and taking a 3-1 lead in the series.
The MVP of the World Series was Pearce, who had a .289 batting average, four home runs and 11 RBIs in the series.
Pearce, a player who was quietly traded in late June, was intended to be picked up as “one more weapon,” according to Boston manager Alex Cora.
“You know, baseball is a funny game,” Pearce told MLB.com. “You never know where the game will take you. And I’ve gone through a lot in my life or in my career to be here, and I couldn’t be more thankful.”
Cora also said he was glad Pearce received MVP recognition.
“Little by little, his role got bigger,” Cora said. “ He’s a good player. He hit righties, he hit lefties, and I’m happy he was the MVP of the series.”
Cora, the rookie manager of the Red Sox, is joining a special club of rookie managers who won the World Series. Two notable managers in this club are John Farrell of the 2013 Red Sox, and Terry Francona of the 2004 Red Sox.
Post-game, Cora discussed his transition from being the Astros’ bench coach to Boston’s championship-winning manager.
“To be able to, first of all, convince them to give me a chance to manage,” Cora said. “That was hard work. And then to get the coaching staff together, guys that I believe, I trust, and they did an outstanding job … You try to put them in situations that they’re going to be successful. And at the end, obviously they decide games and what they did was amazing, very proud of them.”
