By David Lennon
Newsday
LOS ANGELES — Maybe the Red Sox aren’t a dynasty yet, but in winning their fourth World Series title in 15 years, they’re building a decent resume for one. And this group looks like it could be collecting a few more rings in the very near future.
The Dodgers may have wobbled them for 18 innings in Game 3, and had them on the ropes again in Game 4, but the Red Sox wore that sparkle of destiny almost from Opening Day. What they did Sunday night at Chavez Ravine was merely finish the job, and put the rest of baseball on notice for years to come.
Talk about a charmed existence. David Price, formerly a playoff pariah, pitched seven superb innings on three days rest, allowing three hits and one run, for his second victory of this World Series, and Steve Pearce, who turned out to be a blend of Yaz and Big Papi this October, crushed a pair of home runs Sunday as the Red Sox made a 5-1 win look too easy in the clinching Game 5.
Boston grabbed the title with ace Chris Sale producing a 6.75 ERA in his Game 1 start, which lasted four innings, then a closeout inning in Game 5 in which he struck out the side. Even Mookie Betts, the MVP favorite for the American League, was in an 0-for-13 skid before his sixth-inning homer Sunday night.
Pearce took it upon himself to fill the void left by Betts for most of this Fall Classic, and he jump-started the Red Sox with a two-run shot off Clayton Kershaw in the first inning. Incredibly, Boston never relinquished that lead, and that was due to Price, who made sure the Dodgers, the NL’s best offensive team, never really threatened.
“He’s in a good place, not only mentally but physically,” Alex Cora said before Game 5. “We feel he can do this. And I feel that with the group we have, why not go all in, because we know we’re going to be able to bounce back, we’re going to be covered.”
That confidence, for the past seven months, stemmed from Cora, the rookie manager whose steady hand and high baseball IQ proved to the prefect hire for these Red Sox. Three of Boston’s past four titles have been won by managers in their first season at Fenway —Terry Francona (2004), John Farrell (‘13) and now Cora, who was the bench coach for last year’s champs in Houston.
Of all the special things about these Red Sox, from the young talent, to the rookie-prodigy manager, to a Fenway vault stuffed with cash, their most impressive quality was put on display in the 114th World Series.
After cruising to the AL East title with a franchise-record 108 wins, and then knocking off a pair of 100-win challengers in the playoffs, including the Yankees and defending champion Astros, the Red Sox had to climb off the mat twice in a 24-hour span to seize this title. Their greatest strength may be their resolve, their steely determination to finish the job.
Despite taking a 2-0 Series lead, and looking poised for a sweep in L.A., the Red Sox played 18 innings, for nearly 7 { hours, only to lose Game 3 in crushing fashion. That seemed to signal a momentum switch that carried over into the next night, when the Dodgers surged to a 4-0 cushion on Yasiel Puig’s electrifying home run.
The emotional weight of Puig’s blast, and the effect on Dodger Stadium, would have been impossible to overcome for many teams, even those that survived this late into October. The Dodgers had been 54-0 this year when leading by four or more runs at any point, and they held that advantage with eight outs remaining.
But the Red Sox shrugged off that burden, and when they rallied back on homers by Mitch Moreland and Pearce, followed by five more runs in the ninth inning, that’s when this World Series was won. The Dodgers had to know by then that the AL champs weren’t going to be denied. If an 18-inning loss couldn’t break their spirit, or what should have been an insurmountable deficit in Game 4, then it wasn’t happening.
“One of the favorite things I’ve seen when I’ve been here was the team chemistry on and off the field,” Pearce said before Game 5. “And when I came in it, was having fun and laughing, everyone was together and talking baseball.”
The Red Sox did more than just talk it. They played at a championship-caliber level, from April through October. And the scary thing is, they’re likely a long way from finished.
