MLB
Boston Takes Game 1 Of World Series
Last night, the Boston Red Sox took Game 1 of the World Series, beating the Dodgers 8-4. The score would make it appear as if the Red Sox easily won the game, but that actually wasn’t the case. Here’s why…
Lackluster Pitching From Starters
First off, both Chris Sale and Clayton Kershaw did not perform to their dominating potential. Chris Sale only lasted four innings, where he gave up three runs and had to throw 91 pitches. Kershaw didn’t last much longer as he started the 5th inning but got yanked before an out when two runners got on base. Kershaw got charged with those two runs as Ryan Madson came in and couldn’t hold them.
Cat and Mouse Offense
Next, offensively, until the seventh inning, the game was back and forth. Boston struck first by scoring two runs in the first inning. Although Mookie Betts almost got out, David Freese was unable to get to his pop up in tricky foul territory.
Instead, Betts singled, then stole second base. He then scored on a Benintendi single, who also came around to score off of a J.D. Martinez single. The Dodgers then fired back when Matt Kemp crushed a bomb over the ‘Green Monster’ to make the score 2-1 in the top of the second. The Dodgers then tied the game with a Manny Machado single to drive in Justin Turner in third, to make the score 2-2.
The Red Sox didn’t take long to go back up though, as Steve Pearce got on by a fielder’s choice and Martinez drove him in to make the score 3-2 in the bottom of the third. Later, in the fifth, the Dodgers tied up the game once again with Machado driving in Dozier on a groundout to second base.
The Red Sox once again took the lead with a Xander Bogaerts fielder’s choice to score Betts. They then tacked on another fun by a Devers RBI single, that would end up being the winning run. The Dodgers did get one more run in the seventh when Manny Machado got his third RBI of the night to score Max Muncy, but four runs weren’t enough. This was especially true when Eduardo Nunez pinch hit in the seventh inning to belt a three-run dinger over the ‘Green Monster’ off of Alex Wood. That was the dagger in the Dodgers’ coffin as they were unable to score again.
Outlook
If Game 1 is any indication of how the rest of the World Series is going to go, then we could be in for a long one. This time the battle of the matchups went to the Red Sox. However, the Dodgers proved they are more than capable of giving it right back to Boston. They got to their bullpen early and if they continue to do the same, it could be a repeat of the Brewers series. Boston did what they were supposed to do, they won Game 1 at home. If the Dodgers take tonight’s Game 2, it becomes a completely different series.
Hyun-Jin Ryu will be taking the mound against David Price tonight. Should be a good one!
Photo credit Arturo Pardavila III via Flickr
