“Strike 3, the Red Sox have won the World Series!” Joe Buck of Fox Sports said. The Boston Red Sox won the 2018 World Series in dominant fashion: four games to one, against the Los Angeles Dodgers, who have not won the World Series for 30 years. 2018 was a record year for the Red Sox: They won 119 games out of 176, the third best record of all time.
The World Series started off with the first two games played in Boston. The Red Sox took an early lead in game one with an Andrew Benintendi single that drove home Mookie Betts. The Dodgers would go on to tie the game in the third and fifth inning but each time the Red Sox would answer with runs the next half inning. The defining moment of the game was a pinch hit 3-run home run by Eduardo Nunez in the seventh inning.
Nunez’s home run gave the Red Sox crucial insurance runs and the Red Sox would go on to win by the score of 8-4. Game 2 was a low scoring affair ending in a final score of 4-2. In this game the Red Sox took advantage of their opportunities with clutch two out at bats in the 5th, scoring 3 runs which was all the Red Sox would need to get the victory.
Game 3 of the World Series was an 18 inning nail bitter that ended in a Dodgers victory with a walkoff home run from Max Muncy. This was the longest game in postseason history, 7 hours and 20 minutes, and during this game 18 pitchers were used and a combined 561 pitches were thrown according to MLB.com.
This was a crucial game for the Dodgers as they got some momentum back, bringing the series to 2-1 Red Sox. The Dodgers, however, couldn’t keep their momentum for long as they had a disappointing game 4.
Game 4 of the World Series was a heartbreaking game for Dodger fans. The Dodgers had a 4-0 lead after the 6th inning but in the final 3 innings the Red Sox stormed back to steal game 4 from the Dodgers.
The Dodgers bullpen was a disaster during game 4 as they allowed 9 runs in the final 3 innings of the game, causing the Dodgers to go down in the series 3-1. This game completely killed all the momentum the Dodgers had going into the game and helped boost Boston’s confidence after a hard fought loss the night before.
In the final game of the series the Red Sox cruised to an easy 5-1 win with the help of Steve Pearce’s 2 home runs. This was a very special series for Pearce as he was the MVP but it was also validation for all the effort he’s put in throughout his carrer. He has played for all five teams in the AL East and been traded numerous times but his hard work finally paid off with him winning the World Series MVP.
Chris Sale struck out Manny Machado to end the game and the Red Sox stormed the mound and dog piled.
This was the Red Sox’s ninth time winning the World Series and they look to win again next year as they will have most of their star players coming back. The Red Sox were the dominant team in the playoffs and throughout the whole year so it is only fitting that they were the 2018 World Series champions.
