So...after six and a half months, we're left with two of the marquee franchises in baseball. MLB sure got the World Series it wanted with the Red Sox and the Dodgers. The last time these two met in the World Series, Babe Ruth threw a 14-inning complete game in Game 2 (yet the Red Sox still play in the same ballpark as they did then).
Now, 102 years later, they meet again, as Boston looks for its fourth title in 15 years and the Dodgers look to follow in the 2015 Royals' footsteps by winning the title a year after dropping Game 7. And this is probably the best matchup we could've asked for. The Red Sox have been the best team in baseball all season, and they've continued to be just as dominant in the playoffs. But if there's any National League team that might actually have a chance at beating them, it might be the Dodgers.
Don't get me wrong. Boston is the favorite and deserves to be. The Red Sox have shown us throughout the playoffs why they've won 115 games this season. They're relentless. You can't get these guys out! Even if you get the first two outs and have two strikes on the third hitter with no runners on, they still find a way to score two. Then you shoot yourself in the foot even more by walking guys in front of Betts and Martinez.
That's why the Red Sox are in this position. And they've found a way to have their one weakness--the bullpen--not be a weakness at all. It turns out (Tampa Bay Rays, please take not), you don't really need a bullpen if your starter gives you seven, then you can turn it over to your All-Star closer. And, when all else fails, just use your other starters in relief.
The Dodgers used their starters in relief a lot during the NLCS, but that was mainly because there was a pitching change every 11.5 seconds in that series. And, frankly, Kershaw and Hill out of the bullpen was their best way of countering Milwaukee's usage of Hader, Knebel and Jeffress...and it worked.
They also relied on the long ball, which has been their M.O. all season long. Which is why I think the Dodgers have a chance in this series. That is, if they actually can hit the ball out. If they can't, they might suffer the same fate against the Red Sox as the Yankees did.
One advantage they have over the Yankees, though, is that they can counter Boston's strengths. They've got three left-handed starters, and the Red Sox struggle against lefties (which is odd, considering almost their entire lineup is right-handed). And Dave Roberts has used a left-handed lineup and a right-handed lineup for like two months now. He's got interchangeable parts, which gives him a lot of possibilities and creates favorable matchups later in the game (provided he doesn't run out of players, which he almost did in Game 2 vs. the Brewers).
Because of that, the Dodgers can simply insert Matt Kemp at DH and not miss a beat. The Red Sox, on the other hand, have to figure something out for the games at Dodger Stadium, where J.D. Martinez will have to play the outfield. They've been toying with the idea of moving Mookie Betts to second base for those games. And, if you're toying with an idea before the World Series, it means you're going to it. (Remember when the Cubs "toyed" with the idea of activating Kyle Schwarber so he could DH two years ago?)
Which is why it was smart for Roberts to tab Walker Buehler, his only right-hander, as the Game 3 starter. He wasn't going to make it easy on his former teammate Alex Cora by making it so he could just take Benintendi or Bradley out.
I actually really like the way the Dodgers lined up their pitching for the entire series. Roberts was apparently "debating" between Kershaw and Rich Hill for Game 1, but I don't think there was any doubt it was going to be Kershaw. That one inning in Game 7 didn't take anything out of him, and the Red Sox are starting Sale, so you have to go ace vs. ace. But if you start Kershaw in 2 &6 instead of 1 & 5, then he's probably not available in relief in Game 7. And holding Hill until Game 4 means he's available out of the bullpen in all four Fenway games.
Nathan Eovaldi and Rick Porcello have been great for Boston. The question marks in their rotation right now are Chris Sale and David Price. Sale took the loss in Game 1 of the ALCS (Boston's only loss in the series) before being hospitalized with an illness. He's fine now, but add that to his lack of work over the last two months, and you've gotta wonder how much he can give them against Kershaw in Game 1. Then it's Price in Game 2. He finally got his first postseason win in the clincher against Houston, but does one game make up for a career's worth of postseason struggles?
We know that the occasion won't be too big for either team. Only one member of the Red Sox (Xander Bogaerts) was on the team when they last won the World Series five years ago. But, they have plenty of other players who have World Series experience with other teams. The Dodgers, meanwhile, were here last year. Sure, some of the faces have changed (Manny Machado being the most notable new name). But they've dedicated their entire season to getting redemption for last year, and they're just four wins away from doing it.
Those four wins will be very hard to come by, though. Because as good as the Dodgers may be, the Red Sox are simply better. They've been the best team in baseball all season long, and, if possible, they've been even better in the playoffs. They played two 100-win teams and dominated both of them. They're 7-2 in the postseason! The Dodgers will need to play four perfect games to beat them, and even that might not be enough. Twenty years from now, we might be talking about the 2018 Red Sox as one of those all-time great teams.
Including the Wild Card Games, seven of the eight postseason series this year have been clinched on the road. And the Red Sox are undefeated on the road this postseason. So it would be easy to say they win in four or five. I'm giving the Dodgers two games, though, which means the Red Sox close it out at Fenway. Boston wins its fourth title since 2004 in six games, and the Dodgers join the 2010-11 Rangers as back-to-back World Series losers.
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