BOSTON — They’re not losing. Nothing goes wrong. They’re charmed. They’re absolutely, positively going to win the World Series. We do not see the future here at NBC Sports Boston, but we do see the obvious.
Andrew Benintendi was 4-for-4, making him just the third player in Sox history to have at least four hits in a World Series game. Jacoby Ellsbury was the last to do it.
Here are three takeaways from Game 1 of the World Series on Tuesday night, an 8-4 Red Sox win over the Dodgers:
1. J.D. Martinez can trip rounding the bases, but not trip so badly that he cannot get back to the bag and be tagged out. Alex Cora can let Sandy Leon hit when he probably shouldn’t, and the Sox can still score enough to win — and Leon gets his second hit of the day in the eighth inning, his giving him his first multi-hit game since July 15. Cora can let Ryan Brasier face Manny Machado when he probably shouldn’t. Eduardo Rodriguez can run the count 2-0 on Cody Bellinger, and Bellinger, with two on and the potential tying run in scoring position, can sky one rather than capitalize. Eduardo Nunez — he of two bad legs — can pinch hit and wreck a three-run home run to put the game on ice in the seventh inning. Some combination of incredible talent and good baseball fortune is carrying the Sox. That should have been apparent long ago, but it’s hard to think of a moment this postseason where anything has really backfired. It’s a baseball blessing, and the Sox have it, and they should take credit for it and be thankful, too, for what they cannot control.
2. The Red Sox entered Tuesday batting a whopping .370/.495/.658 with runners in scoring position this postseason. After going 4-for-12, their average actually dropped a touch, to .365. The Dodgers meanwhile started the night at .190/.330/.333 and went 1-for-7, dropping their average to .187. Timing, they say it's everything.
3. Chris Sale and Clayton Kershaw didn’t exactly live up to their billing, but postseason games are no longer environments for starting pitchers to thrive, particularly in the cold, particularly with powerhouse lineups opposite them. They were not their best, but there’s so much exertion on every pitch that four innings really isn’t some sort of travesty. Neither southpaw recorded an out in the fifth inning, and both managers probably made the same mistake: the top of the order was due up a third time through, and despite never looking particularly good, both lefties were allowed a crack. Alex Cora made his move quicker than Roberts. As former Dodgers pitcher Brandon McCarthy tweeted during the game: “a lot will be made of the starters not getting an out in the 5th, and it shouldn't be a slight on them. These lineups are perfectly created to do exactly that.”
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