Just like that the Boston Red Sox are two wins away from winning it all again. Some timely hits backed a strong outing from David Price as the Red Sox took a 2-0 World Series lead over the Los Angeles Dodgers at Fenway Park.
Here are takeaways from Boston’s 4-2 Game 2 win before the series shifts to Los Angeles…
DODGERS EXECUTE, MARTINEZ DELIVERS REGARDLESS
The single that gave Boston a 4-2 lead shows why the Red Sox have baseball’s most prolific offence.
Instead of letting the middle of Boston’s order face Hyun-jin Ryu a third time, the Dodgers brought in right-hander Ryan Madson. Not only did the Dodgers have the pitcher they wanted in the game, Madson made his pitch to J.D. Martinez, locating a 94-m.p.h. fastball exactly where Austin Barnes had his glove set up on the inside edge of the plate.
This is where Martinez showed that he’s more than just a power hitter. He took the pitch to right field, driving in two runs. As Madson told reporters before the game, facing Martinez is like being in a pit with a rattlesnake. “One bad move, and you’ll get bit.”
PITCH 62 vs. PITCH 63
The old adage would have us believe that good pitching beats good hitting, and that’s undoubtedly true some of the time, but Madson wasn’t the only pitcher to get beat on a pitcher’s pitch Wednesday. Two fourth-inning pitches from Price showed that good hitting comes out ahead sometimes, too.
First, here’s Price’s 62nd pitch of the night. It was a fastball at 93 m.p.h. on the inside corner of the plate, right where catcher Christian Vazquez wanted it. In this case it worked as intended; Kike Hernandez swung through it for the second out of the inning.
Price’s 63rd pitch of the night was another fastball at 93 m.p.h. This one was inside, too – again right where Vazquez wanted it. It was essentially the same pitch Price threw to Hernandez, only this time it didn’t work at all. Yasiel Puig hit it up the middle for an RBI single.
Those two virtually identical pitches, both up and in to right-handed hitters, led to completely different outcomes. If we judge the pitches based on what happened afterwards one was perfect and the other was pretty bad. More realistically, though, they were both good pitches. Puig simply beat Price when Hernandez couldn’t.
PRICE’S REDEMPTION
Price had pitched well in the playoffs before this year. For the most part, though, commentary revolved around the many times that he had faltered in October.
Now that discussion could finally be changing. Not only did Price get his first playoff win in Boston’s pennant-clinching win over Houston, he got his first World Series win Wednesday with six innings of two-run ball against the Dodgers.
Hopefully these recent results add balance after years of one-sided conversation about Price.
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A NEW ROLE FOR EOVALDI
After making just one relief appearance during the regular season, Nathan Eovaldi has pitched out of the bullpen in each of the first two World Series games, delivering a scoreless inning each time.
Eovaldi looked impressive in the setup role, touching 100 m.p.h. both nights, but the outings may take him out of the mix to start Game 3. That would mean Rick Porcello gets the ball opposite Walker Buehler when the series shifts to Los Angeles Friday.
