David Price finally got the monkey off his back.
The Red Sox left-hander, whose struggles in the playoffs throughout his career are well-documented, managed to pitch six shutout innings in Game 5 of the ALCS to lead Boston over the defending champions and into the World Series.
While there's still work to be done, Price admits he feels relieved ("lighter" to be exact) after finally earning a playoff win after years of failing to get the job done in October.
"I guess 'lighter' is a good word, yeah," Price said on Tuesday. "Yesterday we had media day. I didn't have to -- I got to look forward to it for the first time in a long time. Today it's definitely a weight lifted off of me for sure. Not like food tastes better or anything like that. But it was time. And I'm definitely glad that the time came and we moved past it. And I look forward to doing the same thing tomorrow."
Price was asked whether he's having more fun now than before he was able to break through in the postseason.
"I always enjoy doing this," Price said. "Just because I failed in October for about nine straight years, it didn't take away my passion from baseball. This is something I fell in love with whenever I was two years old. So the ups and the downs, I knew they were going to happen. I've definitely had many more downs than ups in October, but I've got a lot of baseball left."
Boston Red Sox
"Hopefully I have a whole lot of October baseball left. This is why I came to Boston. I knew we would be in this position, year in and year out. So I'm happy that we have made it to point and everybody in our clubhouse, we all want four more wins."
If there's anyone who's believed in Price all season long, it's Alex Cora. The Red Sox manager was asked if he's seen a "more confident" Price since his Game 5 ALCS start.
"No, I see the same guy," Cora said. "I see a teammate taking care of a lot of stuff in the clubhouse, getting ready for his next start."
"Nothing has changed. Nothing has changed," Cora continued. "He talked about it obviously after the clincher, that he doesn't have to answer questions but he knows that his next start is a big start. Tomorrow is going to be a big one. So we count on him. His stuff was electric in Houston. His change-up actually played like a split, and I'm looking forward to seeing him perform tomorrow."
Price will take the mound in Game 2 of the World Series vs the Dodgers in Boston.
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