J.D. Martinez singled to right field to put the Boston Red Sox up two games on the Los Angeles Dodgers, both in the game and in the Series. The Sox took Game 2 with a 4-2 win at home, and now fans are hoping that no more baseball will have to be played at Fenway Park this year.
Starting Friday night, MLB will see at most three games at Dodger Stadium before potentially heading back to Boston for possible Games 6 and 7. Of course, if the Red Sox keep playing like they did in the last two, they will not need a Game 5. What has been working for Boston? Well, last night, it wasn’t necessarily their offense. It wasn’t really their defense either (although Andrew Benintendi made an incredible grab), it was that the Dodgers’ offense was working poorly. David Price only allowed three hits and he struck out five in six innings. Doesn’t that mean that he was pitching well? Yes, of course, but he was also dead tired by the end and he had walked three batters by that point. By the time he left after six innings, Price had thrown 88 pitches, so the Dodgers were swinging and missing on a tired arm. In Game 3, Boston will throw Rick Porcello at the lame Dodger offense. This is where LA might have an advantage because Porcello allowed four runs in four innings on 68 pitches in his ALCS start in Game 4 against the Houston Astros. Porcello did not perform as well as Sox fans hoped he would (although another Benintendi fielding gem won the game), so the Dodgers might be able to scratch out a win. With this in mind, we must remember that the Boston bullpen has been absolutely dynamite this postseason: Since Game 2 of the ALCS (six games ago), the bullpen has only allowed a total five runs and the team is undefeated. The bullpen has a 1.95 Earned Run Average since the start of the win streak and that’s really something to be admired. If the Sox want to sweep, their pitching has to keep up, but more importantly, their top four hitters in the lineup have to hit better. Through Games 1 and 2, the top four hitters (including both Mitch Moreland and Steve Pearce because they substituted for one another) acquired 11 hits and five RBIs. That has to be up if Boston wants to sweep. Jesse A. Cook “Boston 2 Away From 4th WS Win This Century” October 26, 2018
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