The Boston Red Sox are Your 2018 World Series Champions

The Boston Red Sox are again World Series champions, dispatching the Los Angeles Dodgers in five games to win the 2018 Fall Classic.

The Boston Red Sox are your 2018 World Series champions. For the ninth time in their franchise’s long history, and the fourth time since the turn of the century, Boston is the final team standing. They dispatched the Los Angeles Dodgers in five games, backing up an incredible regular season, in which they won 108 games and easily took the American League East crown.

Boston knocked off the division rivals New York Yankees in four games to take the best-of-five ALDS. In the Championship Series, they matched up with the Houston Astros, the defending World Series champions, and ran off four straight wins after losing in the series opener. Against Los Angeles, they won the first two games and final two games of the five-game set.

In the World Series, game three felt like it could have been a turning point in the series. With Boston up by two games, they battled with the Dodgers for an epic 18-inning marathon, but the Dodgers got the last laugh. Max Muncy hit a walk-off home run, and it seemed the Dodgers’ pitching staff was in better shape than Boston’s.

The Dodgers stormed out to a four-run lead in game four, capped by a three-run blast from Yasiel Puig, and were poised to even up the series. Boston didn’t let that happen, storming back from the four-run deficit they faced as they entered the seventh inning. It began in the dugout, where Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale was seen on camera yelling to his teammates around him.

After that, Mitch Moreland got the comeback started with a monster three-run home run in the seventh, and then Steve Pearce tied it in the eighth with a solo home run of his own. Then the Red Sox exploded for five runs in the ninth, putting the dagger in Los Angeles and taking a commanding three games to one lead. For Los Angeles, it was their first loss all season in a game where they led by at least four runs.

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Game five featured a pair of pitchers that had something to prove. David Price took the ball for Boston while Clayton Kershaw was his counterpart, both guys that had more than their fair share of problems in the postseason. Pearce immediately hurt Kershaw, launching a two-run homer in the first inning, but Los Angeles answered back as David Freese led off the bottom of the inning with a shot of his own.

The two pitchers took different paths from there. Price settled in and dominated the Dodgers, not allowing another run as he worked his way into the eighth inning. Kershaw would allow two more home runs as he struggled to finish the seventh. Boston cruised to the game five win, clinching the series in enemy territory.

Both Price and Pearce made excellent cases to be the World Series MVP. Pearce had major parts in both of the final two wins, hitting three home runs and driving in seven runs. One of his home runs tied game four, while another went down as the game-winner in game five. Price made two starts in the season’s final series, allowing three runs in 13 innings, winning both games. He also recorded two outs in relief in the game three marathon.

Though both deserved it, Pearce was named the Willie Mays award winner as the World Series MVP.

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The Red Sox lineup was just too deep and too dangerous in the end. They weren’t simply a collection of mashers trying to launch one out of the park on every swing, they were a group of smart, excellent hitters who weren’t afraid to work counts, make adjustments, and take what pitchers gave them. And they certainly had enough firepower to hit plenty of balls into the stands.

Their pitching stepped up big time. It was truly an all hands on deck situation, especially after having to eat 18 innings on day one of three consecutive days with games. Nathan Eovaldi was among the biggest helpers. He pitched short relief in both game one and game two, then bit the bullet and pitched six incredible innings in extras on Friday. Even though he took the loss, he was excellent and gave Boston every chance to win the game. He was even back in the bullpen, warming up during Sunday’s clinching game five.

San Francisco Giants fans can be happy with this result as well. The hated Dodgers were forced to watch their opponent celebrate a World Series win at Dodger Stadium for a second straight season. Two former Giants won rings as Boston players, with fan favorite Eduardo Nunez playing a big part in the early part of the series, and Heath Hembree making an appearance on Friday.

Baseball season is now officially over, leaving fans with the offseason to look forward. Free agency begins on Monday, the day after the World Series ends, but the annual free agency flurry shouldn’t begin for a month or more after that.

Congratulations to the Boston Red Sox and all their fans!