2014 Season - World Series Game 1 - bayers3's Dynasty

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2014 Season - World Series Game 1

Posted on June 15, 2014 at 05:31 PM.

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THE BOSTON GLOBE (RED SOX DYNASTY REPORT)

LOS ANGELES, CA - The 2014 World Series is finally under way, and we couldn't have asked for a better story. The defending champions against the presumed champions, few thought Boston would make it back here for a shot at a repeat but that certainly wouldn't stop them. The Red Sox had a little extra rest, after defeating Seattle 4-1 they waited patiently for the Dodgers to polish off the Nationals 4-2 in an exciting series. Thanks to the NL All-Stars, especially Oscar Taveras, the Dodgers would enjoy home field advantage.

The most exciting part of Game 1 would be the pitchers; Jon Lester vs. Clayton Kershaw. The best pitcher in baseball going up against one of the best seasons in history, two lefties facing off on the biggest stage possible. Lester finished the season 19-5 with 327K and a 1.94ERA and 0.93WHIP, but if he couldn't come up huge in October and lead the Red Sox to another title, it would ultimately go down as a wasted season.

Despite being heavy favorites, things did not start well for the Dodgers or Kershaw. The uber-talented ace was battered around in the 1st inning, giving up 4 runs to start the game. Pedroia reached base after drawing a walk, then stole 2nd where he was able to score after an Ortiz single away from the shift. Kershaw then loaded the bases to make it worse, and Grady Sizemore singled to score Ortiz and Victorino to go up 3-0. Jackie Bradley Jr. got them to 4-0 with a single that brought in David Ross from 3B, and with that Boston batted through the order in the 1st inning.

Mattingly was not happy with the Dodgers' start

The Dodgers and their super star lineup wasn't done at 4-0, and Yasiel Puig hit a 2R double in the 3rd that was bungled by Sizemore in LF to make it 4-2. Kershaw would leave the game after the 5th, and the bearded Brian Wilson would come in for him. With Sizemore on 1st a hit-and-run would bring Sizemore around with a Bradley Jr. triple and make it 5-2. Mike Napoli would come in for Ortiz in the bottom of the inning, after a few scares at 1B John Farrell wanted Napoli's glove to improve their defensive play.

The 7th inning would turn into the most exciting inning of the game. Dustin Pedroia hit a solid double to the RF gap and tried to strech it into a triple, but Puig had other ideas and made an incredible throw to get Pedroia at third. It was a huge out because the freshly subbed Napoli would hit a solo-HR and make it 6-2 going into the bottom of the inning. Lester's night, already not one of his best outings, suddenly got very rocky. Hanley Ramirez, thanks to a double and an Adrian Gonzalez single, found himself on 3B where Puig drove him in with a sac-fly. Lester then walked Andre Either, his 6th BB of the night, and then left a two-seam fastball a little too high for Juan Uribe who hammered a 3R-HR to make it 6-5.

Both teams traded a scoreless 8th, and Boston couldn't get any runs in the top of the 9th to provide some security. Koji Uehara, normally extremely solid, made the Red Sox sit through a serious nail biter of a 9th. Uehara struck out Ramirez and got Gonzalez to pop out before walking Puig and Ethier, putting the winning run on 1st. Don Mattingly swapped out Chris Perez in favor of AJ Ellis to face Uehara, and Ellis made it very difficult by milking an 8 pitch at bat before Uehara got him looking with a splitter on the outside corner to end the game.

Boston Red Sox at Los Angeles Dodgers
Oct 22, 2014	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Boston (1-0)	4	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	6	12	0
Los Angeles (0-1)	0	0	2	0	0	0	3	0	0	5	7	0
W: Lester (3-0) L: Kershaw (1-2) S: Uehara (3)