Red Sox roll Dodgers take to 2-0 World Series lead
Boston tea party. Mookie Betts & Xander Bogaerts at Fenway Park. Photo Getty Images
The Boston Red Sox used the highest-scoring offense in Major League Baseball and stellar pitching to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 4-2 and seize command of the World Series.
J.D Martinez broke open a tied game on Wednesday when he hit a bases-loaded single that drove in a pair of runs and gave the host Red Sox a lead they would not relinquish.
With the win, Boston grabbed a 2-0 lead in MLB’s best-of-seven final, which shifts to Los Angeles for games three and four on Friday and Saturday.
The pressure will be on The Dodgers when the series resumes Saturday morning (Australian time).
Red Sox closer Craig Kimbrel on the mound.
David Price, who in his last outing finally got a post-season win as a starter for the first time in 12 attempts, was sharp again as he held the Dodgers to three hits and two runs during six innings for the win.
Price and the Red Sox bullpen denied the Dodgers any chance of a mounting a comeback as they combined to retire the final 16 Dodgers batters.
Korean left-hander Ryu Hyun-jin, making his first appearance at Fenway Park, was tagged for six hits and four runs in 4-2/3 innings before leaving the game with the bases loaded.
Ryu had retired seven consecutive batters but then allowed three straight batters to reach base with two outs before Ryan Madson replaced him and issued a five-pitch walk with the bases loaded before allowing Martinez’s bloop single to right field.
Red Sox closer Craig Kimbrel secured the victory with a clinical set from the mound at the top of the ninth to send Fenway Park into raptures.
The Red Sox, undefeated on the road this post-season, now head to Los Angeles needing two more wins to secure their fourth World Series title in 15 seasons.
-with AAP