Kershaw took the mound in the top of the first and naturally Mr. Mookie Betts continued his slump by popping up to left. Andrew Benintendi lined a single up the middle and Steve Pearce put the Sox on top with a 2 run home run to left. JD Martinez grounded out to second and Xander Bogaerts whiffed to end the inning but the Sox led 2-0.
The lead lasted approximately 30 seconds as David Freese hit the first pitch Price threw 10,000 feet for a leadoff home run to start the bottom of the first. Justin Turner walked on 5 pitches not even close but Enrique Hernandez grounded into a double play. Manny Machado whiffed on a high fastball on a 3-2 count to end the inning but it was 2-1 Sox.
Brock "The Hitman" Holt popped up to left to open the top of the second before Rafael Devers whiffed badly on a hittable 91 mph fastball. Christian Vazquez flied out harmlessly to center to end the inning. Price managed to fool Max Muncy with a changeup in the dirt for strike three to open the bottom of the second. Yasiel Puig blooped a single to left but Chris Taylor popped up to center on a 3-2 count. Austin Barnes whiffed on a high fastball to end the inning.
Price himself whiffed on a 2-2 fastball to begin the top of the third before the incompetent Mr. Mookie popped up to center. Benintendi grounded out to first to end the inning. Price managed to get Kershaw to ground out to third to begin the bottom of the third but JD Martinez lost a routine fly ball by Freese in the sky, Freese motoring to third with a triple. Price did manage to get Turner to ground out to short to keep Freese at third and Hernandez to fly out to a running Martinez in foul territory to end the inning. Huge display of balls by Price not to let the botch bother him.
The Sox failed to score in the top of the fourth as Pearce grounded out to third to begin. Martinez looped a single over the glove of Machado but Bogaerts banged into a double play to end the inning. Price got Machado to swing and miss on an outside fastball for strike three to begin the bottom of the fourth before Muncy popped up to center on the first pitch. Price needed just 3 pitches to get Puig to line out to Holt to end the inning.
Kershaw cruised in the top of the fifth as Holt lined out harmlessly to first to begin. Devers looked at strike three and Vazquez lined out to left to end the inning. Price came back for the bottom of the fifth and Taylor was rung up on a check swing strike three to start. Barnes grounded out to second on the first pitch before Kershaw grounded back to Price to end the inning. Besides the one mistake to Freese he had tossed 5 innings of 1 run ball to put the Sox 12 outs from victory.
Kershaw matched Price in the top of the sixth by getting David to ground out to short to start. Mr. Mookie broke his 0 for 13 slump with a solo blast to left for some much needed insurance. Benintendi hit a rocket but right at first for the second out. Pearce lined out to center to end the inning but the Sox now led 3-1.
Price came back for the bottom of the sixth and got Freese to ground out to second to begin. Turner flied out to deep left and Holt made a great play to get Hernandez to end the inning. Price was at 76 pitches through 6 innings and were 9 outs from the title.
Martinez delivered the kill shot in the top of the seventh with a solo blast to dead center to increase the lead. Bogaerts slammed a single to left but was erased on the force by Holt. Devers lined a base hit up the middle but Vazquez whiffed. Sox manager Alex Cora showed faith in his starter by having Price hit away. Price grounded into a force to end the inning but it was 4-1 Sox.
9 outs away from victory Price returned to the mound for the top of the seventh. Bogaerts made a great play to rob Machado of a line drive single to start before Muncy popped up to left on the first pitch. Puig grounded back to the mound to end the inning at 83 pitches. Price had thrown 7 innings of 1 run ball on 3 days rest. He was outstanding.
Pedro Baez took over for the top of the eighth and Mr. Mookie flied out to the centerfield wall to start. Benintendi hit one up the elevator shaft but Pearce cemented his MVP status with another home run to left to ice the game. Martinez whiffed to end the inning but it was 5-1 Red Sox.
6 outs from victory Price came out to the mound in the bottom of the eighth but walked Taylor to start. Sox manager Alex Cora took no chances and said that was it for Price after 7 plus innings on 3 days rest. Joe Kelly came in and Matt Kemp pinch hit for Barnes. Kelly blew away Kemp on a high fastball before Joc Pederson pinch hit for Baez and looked at strike three right down the middle. Cody Bellinger pinch hit for Freese and Kelly blew him away to end the inning. Redemption for Price and Kelly in one night. The Sox were 3 outs away from winning it all.
Hernandez moved from center to second, Muncy went from second to first, Taylor went from left to center with Kemp in left and Kenley Jansen now on the mound much to Chris "Mad Dog" Russo's chagrin. Bogaerts drew a walk to start but Holt banged into a double play. Devers grounded out to first to end the inning. 3 outs away from victory Sox manager Alex Cora summoned the injured Chris Sale to close out the bottom of the ninth. Sale got Turner to strike out on a pitch in the dirt to start. Sale whiffed Hernandez to set the stage for the final out....Machado. The odds on favorite to go to the Yankees as the next great villain struck out swinging to end the game. THE BOSTON RED SOX ARE THE 2018 WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS!!!
We have Co-Heroes of the Night. The first Hero is from the offensive side which is Steve Pearce. His 2 home runs and 3 runs batted in were more than the entire Dodger offense and guided the Sox to win. He also was named World Series MVP.
The other Co-Hero is David Price. His 7 innings of 1 run ball against Clayton Kershaw was instrumental in the Sox winning the game.
The Good:
JD Martinez was 2 for 4 including a solo home run.
Xander Bogaerts was 1 for 3 with a walk.
Joe Kelly struck out the side in the bottom of the eighth.
Chris Sale struck out the side in the bottom of the ninth.
The Bad:
Brock Holt was 0 for 4.
Christian Vazquez was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.
The Ugly:
Mookie Betts was just 1 for 4 but the one hit was a solo home run.
Andrew Benintendi was just 1 for 4 but scored a run.
Rafael Devers was just 1 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
Honorable Mention:
Jackie Bradley Jr played center in the top of the ninth.
Final Thoughts:
Get the duckboats ready for the Boston Red Sox are the 2018 World Series champions! Can you believe it? This team won 108 regular season games and snowplowed through the playoffs, wiping out the New York Yankees, Houston Astros and Los Angeles Dodgers winning 11 out of 14 games including an incredible 7-1 record on the road. The much maligned guys such as David Price, Joe Kelly, Mookie Betts and Chris Sale that got laughed at for past failures got total redemption. Almost every move Dave Dombroski made worked out (Nathan Eovaldi, Steve Pearce, Ryan Brasier) including the previous moves to trade for Sale and Craig Kimbrel. Unless Santiago Espinal, Michael Kopech, Manny Margot, Carlos Asuaje, Yoan Moncada, Luis Basabe, Javy Guerra, Jalen Beeks, Logan Allen, Victor Diaz, Williams Jerez or Ty Buttrey become Hall of Fame players then the trades Dombrowski made were totally worth it. In terms of this season, the Sox bolted to a 17-2 start and won 108 regular season games. They stumbled out of New York in second place on July 2nd and ripped off 10 straight wins, 12 out of 13 to get first place back before the All-Star break. Then the Sox wiped out the Yankees four straight in early August and cruised toward the Division title. The spectre of the Yankees followed them into the Division Series and the Sox wiped them out. After getting bounced in 4 games last year against Houston, they served it back by taking out the Astros in 5 including 3 in a row in Houston to win the pennant. Then they made the National League champion LA Dodgers look like fools in 5 games to win it all. They dominated from start to finish and were pretty much an injury to Chris Sale away from setting an MLB record for wins. Sox fans should celebrate this win and celebrate hard. The Yankee fans can take their "27 rings" and shove them up their asses. Where do the Sox go from here? Next year they will be the hunted and Chris Sale most likely needs rotar cuff surgery. Ask the Astros how hard it is to repeat so it won't be easy. Still, the only thing that could derail this team are injuries at this point. Next year is next year though so no sense squawking about that until March. As of now the Red Sox are World Series Champions and its time to have fun, party and enjoy it.
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