World Series 5: Red Sox 5, Dodgers 1

Red Sox - 200 001 110 - 5  8  0
Dodgers - 100 000 000 - 1  3  0

David Price gave a superb performance tonight: 7-3-1-2-5, 89. The Red Sox could not have asked for better. At one point, Price retired 14 Dodgers in a row and 20 of 22. Los Angeles never had a chance in Game 5.

Price is the first pitcher to work into the eighth inning of a World Series game on only one day of rest since Bob Turley of the Yankees did it in 1957. The bullpen faced six batters. None of them put the ball into play. Joe Kelly struck out three straight batters to end the eighth. Chris Sale struck out the side in the ninth.

Steve Pearce crushed a pair of home runs, including a two-run shot in the first - on Clayton Kershaw's sixth pitch of the night - to send the Red Sox on their way. Mookie Betts and J.D. Martinez also went deep. Pearce grew up as a Red Sox fan and he was named the Most Valuable Player of the World Series. Pearce had four hits, all for extra bases: three home runs and a double. He scored five runs and knocked in eight. In 16 plate appearances, he did not strike out at all.

The Red Sox finished the regular season and postseason with a record of 119-57. They have won 16 of 19 World Series games since 2004. The 2018 Red Sox went 7-1 on the road in the postseason, the most road wins of any World Series team except the 1996 MFY (8-0). The Dodgers became the first team to lose the deciding game of the World Series on its home field in consecutive seasons since the New York Giants lost the 1936 and 1937 series at the Polo Grounds.

Principal Owner John Henry: "This is the greatest Red Sox team ever."

The Red Sox wasted no time in jumping out to a lead. Betts flied to center, but Andrew Benintendi grounded an 0-2 pitch into center field. Pearce nailed the first pitch he saw over the wall in left-center and Boston - who finished the postseason with a 10-0 record when scoring first - led 2-0.

Price's first pitch of the game - a fastball away at 92 - was hit for a home run to right-center by David Freese. He then walked Justin Turner, throwing four balls after a foul. This was not a good start. But ... Price got Enrique Hernandez to hit into a double play and he fanned Manny Machado, who had been ahead in the count 3-0. On the fourth pitch, Machado took a quick step to first (now he's in a hurry to get to the base?), but the pitch was a called strike. He took the 3-1 and started jogging down the line, but it was another called strike. Machado fouled off three more pitches before missing a high fastball.

And Price promptly settled into a groove, allowing only three baserunners over the next six innings. Yasiel Puig singled with one out in the second. David Freese got a triple in the third when Martinez lost his routine fly to right in the dusky sky. It fell behind him and the Dodgers had the tying run at third with one out. Price shrugged his shoulders, figuring he could get out of this little jam with only three pitches. #1: Turner grounded out to shortstop. #2: Hernandez took a strike. #3: Hernandez fouled out to right.

Price set the Dodgers down in order in the fourth. 9 pitches: K, F8, L4.

Price set the Dodgers down in order in the fifth. 11 pitches: K, 4-3, 1U.

Price set the Dodgers down in order in the sixth. 9 pitches: 4-3, F7, 4-3.

Price set the Dodgers down in order in the seventh. 7 pitches: L6, F7, 1-3.

From the third through the seventh - five innings - Price needed only 45 pitches. He was always deliberate and often deep in concentration, but he also seemed to be working extremely free and easy. On the mound to begin the last of the eighth, he was at 83 and the Red Sox now led 5-1, thanks to three solo homers: Betts to left in the sixth, JDM to dead center in the seventh, Pearce to left-center in the eighth.

I was really hoping for a complete game, but when Price walked Chris Taylor to start the bottom of the eighth, Alex Cora went to the bullpen. Kelly came in and struck out three pinch-hitters: Matt Kemp went down swinging on 2-2, Joc Pederson was caught looking at a full-count pitch, and Cody Bellinger whiffed on 1-2.

Sale faced the Dodgers' 2-3-4 hitters in the bottom of the ninth. As his teammates stood in the field, hearts racing, or paced anxiously in the dugout, Sale struck out Turner (cffs (he was thrown out 2-3)), Hernandez (cbbbffs), and Machado (sfbs (4-for-22, .182)). It was a small, but much appreciated, gift from the baseball gods that Machado was the final out of this glorious season.

Tweets:

David Price / Clayton Kershaw

Betts, CF
Benintendi, LF
Pearce, 1B
Martinez, RF
Bogaerts, SS
Holt, 2B
Devers, 3B
Vázquez, C
Price, P

The Red Sox can win their fourth title in the last 15 seasons - and ninth overall - with a victory tonight. Today is the anniversary of Boston's "inevitable" 2007 World Series championship.

David Price pitched out of the bullpen in Game 3, throwing 13 pitches and getting two outs. Clayton Kershaw allowed five runs over four innings in Game 1.

The Dodgers have blown a 4-0 lead in a World Series game for the second year in a row. Last year, the Dodgers and Astros had each won two games and Los Angeles led 4-0 in the fourth inning of Game 5. But they blew that lead - as well as leads of 7-4 and 8-7 - before losing 13-12 in 10 innings. The Dodgers returned home and won Game 6, but lost Game 7.

Last night, the Dodgers were eight outs away from tying the series 2-2. Manager Dave Roberts: "It is a tough loss. Any loss in a World Series is difficult, obviously, but now we're in a situation where we're do-or-die. ... [T]he 108 wins speaks for itself in the regular season. They're very balanced. They pitch well. They put together good at-bats. They play defense. But ... we're not out yet."

Looking at the Red Sox's batting and pitching stats, no clear player emerges as the probable MVP. Andrew Benintendi leads with five hits and five runs, but most of that came in Game 1. Mookie Betts has four hits and four runs, but he's hitting only .211. Steve Pearce had four of his team-leading five RBI last night; he also has four walks and has not struck out in 12 plate appearances. Nathan Eovaldi has been amazing, but outside of Game 3 (which he lost), he has pitched only two innings. Joe Kelly has appeared in every game and thrown five scoreless innings; he's also tied for the team lead with seven strikeouts. But can a set-up guy be an MVP?

I think a strong outing from Price tonight - 6 innings, 0-2 runs - could win him the award.

WS Contest: The Red Sox have scored 79 runs (27 in ALDS, 29 in ALCS, 23 in WS). The most pitches thrown by a Boston pitcher in a game is 97, which has been done twice by Nathan Eovaldi, both as a starter (ALDS 3) and as a reliever (WS 3)!

                RS     PIT
Jeffrey M       87     108
Steve H         85     116
Laura K         78     107