The Boston Red Sox have won the World Series! They won Game 5 at the Los Angeles Dodgers 5:1, their ninth title overall and their first since 2013. Boston took an early lead against Pitching Ace Clayton Kershaw and extended it further. David Price and Steve Pearce paved the way.
The Red Sox left no doubt at the beginning how this game and the series would end. Right in the first inning Steve Pearce brought the Sox into the lead against Kershaw with a 2-Run-Homerun. It was a well-placed fastball at the top of the inner edge, but Pearce still beat it out with an exit velocity of 100.5 miles per hour.
The Dodgers reacted quickly and David Freese, in return for David Price, got the 1:2 connection with a Lead-Off-Homerun. That, however, was all they could do against Price. The left-hander, who was only announced late on Saturday evening as a Game 5 starter, caught his breath afterwards and dominated the Dodgers at will.
Only in the third inning L.A. came up again, a triple from Freese, which J.D. Martinez had underestimated in the right field, brought the potential run into position for compensation. But there he stayed, because Justin Turner hit the first pitch directly to the shortstop, which was closer to the plate than usual and held Freese at the third base. Afterwards Kike hit Hernandez in a fly out at the end of the inning.
Kershaw (7 IP, 7 H, 4 ER) kept his team in the game as long as possible, but home runs from Mookie Betts in the sixth and Martinez in the seventh inning extended the lead for the visitors. In the eighth inning Pedro Baez, who had two outs – how else? – gave a second home run to Pearce.
Price started the eighth inning, but after a lead-off walk by Chris Taylor, the left-handed player was finished. He was replaced by Joe Kelly. And he just collected three strikeouts in a row. The final inning of this World Series finally belonged to Chris Sale, who had started game 1. He pitched a sovereign 1-2-3 inning and thus completed the triumph for Boston.
After he already pitted outstandingly in game 2, Price added in game 5 and shone again. In 7+ innings he admitted three hits (ER) and laid the foundation for the Red Sox title. It should not be forgotten or underestimated that the whole world had expected another starting pitcher – Chris Sale – about 24 hours earlier.
First of all: All Dodgers – with the exception of Freese – saw no country in this game. But even maybe the biggest name in this lineup, Manny Machado, didn’t get his kicks. What’s more, the soon-to-be coveted Free Agent was left without a hit (0-4) and took three strikeouts – including the final out of the series. He ended a disappointing World Series in a manner befitting his standing.
This article was published without prior review by Major League Baseball.