Pershelle Rohrer The Boston Red Sox celebrate after defeating the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-1 to win the 2018 World Series. (Photo credit: NBC Sports) The Boston Red Sox defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers in five games to win the 2018 World Series, capping off a franchise record 108-win season with their fourth championship in fifteen years. Boston went 11-3 in the postseason, defeating the 100-win New York Yankees and the 103-win Houston Astros before beating the Dodgers in the World Series. 35-year-old Steve Pearce, who Boston acquired from the Toronto Blue Jays in June, was named World Series MVP after hitting three home runs and adding 7 RBIs in the final eleven innings of the series. Manager Alex Cora, a player on Boston’s 2007 championship team, became the 5th rookie manager to win a title and the first all time from Puerto Rico. Andrew Benintendi and Eduardo Nunez led the Red Sox to an 8-4 victory in game 1. Benintendi had four hits, including a 1st inning single that scored Mookie Betts. Neither of the starting pitchers lasted more than four innings, with Boston’s Chris Sale giving up 3 runs on 91 pitches and Los Angeles’s Clayton Kershaw allowing 7 hits and 5 runs. The game was tied at 3 after the top of the 5th, but Rafael Devers’ RBI single in the bottom of the inning made the score 5-3. Nunez put the game away with a pinch-hit 3-run home run in the 7th. Matt Kemp and Justin Turner each had 3 hits for the Dodgers, and Manny Machado had 3 RBIs. Andrew Benintendi makes a leaping catch to rob Brian Dozier of a hit in game 2. (Photo credit: boston.com) Game 2 was a strong outing for Red Sox pitcher David Price. After carrying an 0-9 record in 11 career postseason starts into the 2018 playoffs, Price won three straight games, the second of which was a 3-hit game 2. He only gave up 2 runs, both in the 4th inning, and struck out 5 in 6 innings. Mookie Betts collected 3 hits for Boston, and J.D. Martinez added 2 RBIs in the 5th inning. Boston scored all of their runs with two outs, and Price and the Red Sox bullpen retired LA’s last 16 batters. Boston won the game 4-2 to take a 2-0 series lead. Game 3 was the longest World Series game in history, lasting for 7 hours and 20 minutes and resulting in a Dodgers victory after 18 innings. The game was 15 minutes longer than the entire 1939 World Series and featured 46 players, including 18 pitchers. Joc Pederson homered off of Rick Porcello in the 3rd inning, and Jackie Bradley Jr. tied it up with a solo shot in the 8th off of Kenley Jansen. Porcello allowed just one run in 4 2/3 innings. Rookie Walker Buehler threw 7 shutout innings, surrendering just 2 hits and recording 7 strikeouts. The Red Sox had the opportunity to score on Eduardo Nunez’s pop fly in the 10th, but Bellinger’s spectacular double play prevented Ian Kinsler from scoring at home, ending the inning. Boston took a 2-1 lead in the top of the 13th and were one out away from a 3-0 series lead, but Kinsler’s throwing error allowed Max Muncy to score after he tagged up to take second base on Bellinger’s pop out that sent Nunez tumbling into the stands. Muncy ended the game on his own terms with a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 18th inning. The home run spoiled Red Sox pitcher Nathan Eovaldi’s six-inning relief outing where he allowed just three hits. The 3-2 win moved the Dodgers within a game of Boston, but it ended up being their last win of the season. Max Muncy celebrates after hitting a walk-off home run in game 3, ending the longest World Series game ever. (Photo credit: boston.com) The Red Sox scored all nine of their runs in the last three innings of game 4, winning 9-6 and taking a commanding 3-1 series lead. Boston’s Eduardo Rodriguez threw five strong innings of shutout ball, but the Dodgers scored in the 6th on a throwing error with the bases loaded. Yasiel Puig homered in the next at-bat, scoring Manny Machado and Cody Bellinger, ending Rodriguez’s night with Boston down 4-0. Rich Hill threw 6 1/3 innings for the Dodgers, giving up a hit and a run while striking out 7. LA’s bullpen let in all nine runs for Boston beginning with Mitch Moreland’s pinch-hit three-run home run off of Ryan Madson in the 7th. World Series hero Steve Pearce hit a game-tying homer the next inning. Boston scored 5 runs in the top of the ninth. Devers hit Brock Holt in, and Pearce hit a three-run double after Betts and Benintendi got on base. Pearce crossed the plate on a Xander Bogaerts single to center field. He joined Carl Yastrzemski and David Ortiz as the only Red Sox players to homer and have 4 RBIs in a World Series game. Los Angeles’s Kike Hernandez hit a 2-run shot in the bottom of the ninth, but Craig Kimbrel retired the next three batters to end the game. World Series MVP Steve Pearce runs the bases after hitting a game-tying home run in game 4. (Photo credit: boston.com) The Red Sox led game 5 from start to finish en route to a series-clinching 5-1 victory. Andrew Benintendi’s 1-out single was immediately followed by a Steve Pearce home run, putting Boston up 2-0 early. David Freese drove the first pitch he saw out of the park, but it was the only run David Price gave up in his stellar 7-inning, 3-hit outing. Kershaw gave up three home runs to Boston, including Pearce’s in the 1st and solo shots from Betts and Martinez in the 6th and 7th. Pearce’s second home run of the game came off of Pedro Baez in the 8th inning. Joe Kelly and Chris Sale threw a combined 31 pitches to retire the last six batters. The Red Sox swarmed the mound after Sale struck out Manny Machado on a slider to end the game. Boston is now tied for the third most World Series titles with nine. Manager Alex Cora won back-to-back rings over the Dodgers, as he was the bench coach for the Houston Astros team that beat Los Angeles last year in seven games. After the game, Red Sox owner John Henry said, “This is the greatest Red Sox team in history." The Boston Red Sox celebrate after Chris Sale (#41) strikes out Manny Machado for the last out of the World Series. (Photo credit: boston.com)
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December 2018
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