Ron Griffitts
Contributing Columnist
In October 2018, the Los Angeles Dodgers (92-71) playing in their 20th fall classic, managed by Dave Roberts with general manager Farhan Zaidi had dispatched the Atlanta Braves 3-1 and the Milwaukee Brewers 4-3 to face the Boston Red Sox (108-54) who were appearing in their 13th World Series, managed by Alex Cora who got past the New York Yankees 3-1 and the Houston Astros 4-1.
The Dodgers were led by Yasmani Grandal (24 HR), Cody Bellinger (25 HR, 76 RBI, 84 RS) Joc Pederson (25 HR), Enrique Hernandez (25 HR), Yasiel Puig (23 HR), Matt Kemp (21 HR, 85 RBI, .290 BA), Max Muncy (35 HR, 79 RBI) and Justin Turner (.312 BA).
Clayton Kershaw 9-5, Alex Wood 9-7, Walker Beuhler 8-5, Rich Hill 11-5, Ross Stripling 8-6 and Hyun Jin Ryu 7-3 were the starters while Kenley Jansen was in the bullpen with 38 saves.
The Red Sox were led by Mookie Betts (32 HR, 80 RBI, .348 BA, 129 RS, 30 SB), J. D. Martinez (43 HR, 130 RBI, .330 BA, 111 RS), Xander Bogarts (23 HR, 103 RBI) and Rafael Devers (21 HR).
Their starting pitchers were Rick Porcello 17-7, David Price 16-7, Chris Sale 12-4 and Eduardo Rodriquez 13-5 and Craig Kimbrel with 42 saves, 2.74 ERA was in the bullpen.
Game one was in historic Fenway Park in Boston with Chris Sale and Clayton Kershaw as the starting pitchers. Neither pitcher was sharp as the Red Sox got two quick runs off of Kershaw in the first inning on their way to an 8-4 win with a fifth inning RBI single by Rafael Devers to score Andrew Benintendi being what proved to be the winning run.
Game two also went the Red Sox way as behind six innings of three hit pitching from David Price and three scoreless relief innings the Red Sox, with the help of a three-run fifth inning, took a 2-0 advantage in the series with the 4-2 win.
The teams moved to Dodger Stadium in LA for one of the longest World Series games in history. The Dodgers took a 1-0 lead into the eighth inning but Jackie Bradley Jr. homered off of Kenley Jansen to tie the score and the teams go into extra innings.
Both teams scored one run each in the 13th inning and the game continues to the 18th inning when Max Muncy hit a solo walk-off home run for a 3-2 Dodgers’ win. The series was 2-1 favoring the Red Sox.
Game five was scoreless until the bottom of the sixth inning when the Dodgers scored four runs. But the Red Sox answered in the top of the seventh when Mitch Moreland homered with two on and in the eighth Steve Pearce added a solo home run off of Kenley Jansen to tie the game. Boston broke the game open with five runs in the top of the ninth for a 9-6 win and a 3-2 lead in the series.
Game five was all Boston as David Price was back and pitched seven innings of one run three hit baseball with Joe Kelly in for one inning and starter Chris Sale in to pitch a scoreless ninth inning and the Red Sox won the game 5-1 and their ninth World Series title.
Steve Pearce got the series’ MVP and the Dodgers were back in the fall classic in 2020 while Boston has not been back since 2018.
Statistics for this article were from baseball-reference.com.
