Red Sox “swing” their way past Dodgers, win 9th World Series

Members+of+the+Red+Sox+begin+their+postgame+celebration+after+a+win%2C+lead+by+closer+Craig+Kimbrel+and+catcher+Sandy+Leon.+

By Keith Allison: Flickr, e-mail, Twitter, Instagram, website - https://www.flickr.com/photos/keithallison/43083720455, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=72318891

Members of the Red Sox begin their postgame celebration after a win, lead by closer Craig Kimbrel and catcher Sandy Leon.

Bottom of the 9th, two outs and Manny Machado is down in the count 1-2 with nobody on base. The pitch from Chris Sale is swung on and missed and the Red Sox win the World Series! Chris Sale strikes out all three batters in the 9th inning to clinch the 4th World Series for Boston since 2004.

Boston hosted the first two games of the series against the Dodgers, as they not only had a better record than the Dodgers, but also had the best record in baseball for the regular season. Aces Chris Sale and Clayton Kershaw pitched in game 1; however, viewers did not get the classic pitchers duel that was highly expected. The Red Sox came away winning 8-4. Game 2 took place the following night, with the Red Sox bats continuing to put pressure on the Dodgers and score three runs in the 7th inning to cap off a 4-2 comeback win for the Red Sox.

The series headed to Los Angeles with the Dodgers down 2-0 in the series. The Dodgers knew that it would take a lot to turn the tides on this series. Nine innings was not enough to determine Game 3 tied 1-1, so the game went into extra innings. In the top of the 13th inning, Boston took the lead on an infield ground ball that resulted in a throwing error by Dodgers pitcher Scott Alexander. Boston was ready to take a 3-0 series lead when the Dodgers tied the game 2-2 on a throwing error by 2nd baseman Ian Kinsler. Five innings later, in the bottom of the 18th, Max Muncy hit a walkoff homerun for the Dodgers to win Game 3 3-2. Game 3 was a new record for longest game of seven hours and 20 minutes long that had 46 hitters used and 18 pitchers used.

Game 4 was the next night after all of the players were exhausted from the long Game 3. The Dodgers looked to continue their momentum and even the series. The game was tied 0-0 going into the bottom of the 6th, when the Dodgers scored four runs to take a commanding 4-0 lead. Red Sox manager Alex Cora was getting ready to face questions about leaving his starter, Eduardo Rodriguez, in too long when Boston, who was not ready to give up, scored three runs in the top of the 7th and one run in the top of the 8th. Dodgers’ manager Dave Roberts made the decision to go to the bullpen after six innings. Rich Hill, the Dodgers starting pitcher, had only given up one hit in those innings. Tied 4-4 going into the 9th inning, the Red Sox scored five runs. The Dodgers scored two in the bottom of the 9th, but it was not enough as Boston went on to win 9-6. Now, Roberts was on the hot seat in the media for pulling his starter too soon.

Game 5 was another expected pitchers duel between David Price for the Red Sox and Clayton Kershaw for the Dodgers. Boston scored two runs in the first and Los Angeles got one run back in that same inning. The score remained 2-1 until the 6th inning when Mookie Betts hit a homerun to make it 3-1. The very next inning, JD Martinez hit a homerun to increase the lead to 4-1, which led to the end of Kershaw’s night. Chris Sale went on in the 9th to save the game, struck out three batters and the celebrations began as Boston won the World Series. Former Pittsburgh Pirate Steve Pearce won the MVP award for the 2018 World Series after showing dominance in all five games.

Overall, the 2018 World Series was filled with great moments that will never be forgotten. Boston, as well as the other 29 teams, will now look to get ready for the 2019 season.