By Jamie Belfer || Assistant Sports Editor
The Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers both had remarkable seasons. The Red Sox, under first-year head coach Alex Cora, had one of their best seasons in franchise history with 108 wins and 47 losses. The Dodgers, looking to avenge their loss in the 2017 World Series, had another dominating season under head coach Dave Roberts with 92 wins and 71 losses.
In order to make it through the postseason and advance to the World Series, the Red Sox fought through the New York Yankees and Houston Astros while the Dodgers had to battle the Atlanta Braves and Milwaukee Brewers.
The last time the Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers met in the World Series was in 1912 when the Red Sox defeated the Dodgers (former Brooklyn Robins) in five games. The Red Sox repeated this same outcome, winning this series 4 games to 1.
Boston took Game 1 of the series with an 8-4 victory. Both teams put their aces on the mound, Chris Sale for the Red Sox and Clayton Kershaw for the Dodgers. The Red Sox jumped out to an early 2-0 lead at the end of the first as Andrew Benintendi knocked Mookie Betts, who had singled to start off the game. The Red Sox tacked on another run as J.D. Martinez singled to score Benintendi. The Dodgers fired back in the second inning with a solo home run from Matt Kemp, cutting the lead to 2-1. Both teams scored one run in the 3rd with RBIs from Manny Machado (Dodgers) and Martinez (Red Sox). The Dodgers scored one run in the top of the 5th to tie the game 3-3, yet the Red Sox answered once again with 2 runs. The Dodgers put together a rally in the 7th, scoring 1 run to make the score 5-4. However, Eduardo Nunez smashed a three-run home run in the bottom of the 7th to give the Red Sox an 8-4 lead. Both pitchers, Nathan Eovaldi and Craig Kimbrel, were able to shut the Dodger offense down in the 8th and 9th innings to secure a Red Sox victory in Game 1.
The Dodgers looked to take Game 2 with starter Hyun-Jin Ryu on the mound. David Price started on the mound for the Red Sox. Boston once again got out to an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning after Ian Kinsler singled to left, allowing Xander Bogaerts to score from second. Price kept the Dodgers quiet until the fourth inning. After singles from David Freese and Machado, Price walked Chris Taylor to load the bases. Matt Kemp’s sacrifice fly allowed Freese to score the first Dodger run of the game. Yasiel Puig then singled to knock in Machado, allowing the Dodgers to take a 2-1 lead in the top of the 4th. Boston answered in the 5th, scoring three runs from a flurry of singles and walks from Christian Vazquez, Betts, Benintendi, Steve Pearce, and J.D. Martinez. At the end of the 5th, Boston led the Dodgers 4-2. The Red Sox and Dodgers’ pitching staffs shut down the opposing team for the rest of the game, allowing the Red Sox to secure a 4-2 victory.
Game 3 was a thrilling 18 inning victory for the Dodgers. After being tied up 1-1 at the end of the 9th inning, the game went into extra innings. Both teams scored one run in the 13th due to defensive errors allowing the other team to score. Finally, in the 18th inning, Max Muncy crushed a walk-off homer to end the game to secure the first Dodger victory of the series.
With a win in Game 4, the Dodgers could tie the series up at 2 games a piece. The Dodgers scored the first runs of the game in the 6th inning, jumping out to a 4-0 lead. The Red Sox responded with three runs in the seventh and one run in the 8th to make the game 4-4. In the ninth, Rafael Devers started a rally that led the Red Sox to score a staggering 5 runs in the top of the ninth. While the Dodgers rallied back in the bottom of the ninth to score 2 runs, they were ultimately defeated 9-6.
With the Red Sox now up 3 games to 1, they could become World Series champions by defeating the Dodgers in Game 5. Game 5 was a home run fest as all runs were scored by home runs. With 2 homers from Pearce, and one a-piece from Betts and Martinez, the Red Sox scored 5 runs. David Freese had the lone homer for the Dodgers, making the score 5-1 going into the bottom of the ninth inning. In order to extend the series to Game 6, the Dodgers had to have a miraculous comeback. The Dodgers’ most dangerous hitters (Justin Turner, Enrique Rodriguez, and Manny Machado) were coming up to bat. Alex Cora put his ace pitcher, Chris Sale, on the mound to secure the final three outs for a 5-1 victory. Sale showed no mercy as he struck out all three batters on devastating sliders, making the Red Sox World Series champions (mlb.com)(espn.com).
First-year Jamie Belfer is the Assistant Sports Editor. Her email is jbelfer@fandm.edu.