The Price Is Right! Red Sox Win Game 5 and Earn Spot in Fall Classic
They took down the New York Yankees in four and now they have taken down the Houston Astros in five games to earn a spot in the World Series. The Boston Red Sox are heading back to the Fall Classic for the first time since 2013 after beating the Astros, 4-0 in Game 5 on the road at Minute Maid Park. Leading the way in Game 5? David Price. Yes, the man who was yet to get a win in the postseason as a starter, finally got just that to help the Red Sox win the American League pennant.
David Price took the mound against starter Justin Verlander for Houston; Verlander started Game 1 in which the Astros came away with a 7-2 victory. Now they were on the brink of elimination trailing 3-1 in the series after dropping their last three game and in need of a win at home which would force a Game 6 at Fenway Park to keep their hopes at repeating as World Series champions alive. Given Price's resume in the postseason, the Astros had to be feeling confident coming into this game, especially on their home turf that they could get this series back to Boston. However, 3 hours and 32 minutes after first pitch all of those aspirations were dashed as the Red Sox stormed the field to celebrate.
Both teams went quiet for the first two innings of this one although the Red Sox loaded the bases with two outs in the second inning before Verlander managed to strikeout Mookie Betts to end the threat. Boston would strike first in the next frame as J.D. Martinez knocked a 1-2 curveball into the left field stands to give the Sox a 1-0 lead in the early going. Both teams remained scorless until the sixth when Rafael Devers hit a three-run home run to extend the Boston lead to 4-0 and provide Price with a further cushion to get his first postseason win. The left-hander would exit the game after he went six innings giving up no runs on three hits, striking out nine batters, and walking nobody. It was up to the Boston bullpen to get the job done in the last three innings and secure the Game 5 victory.
Matt Barnes, Nathan Eovaldi, and Craig Kimbrel were the men to get the job done for the Red Sox in those final three innings. The trio allowed just one run in the seventh inning on a home run by Marwin Gonzalez off of Matt Barnes, but other than that they were nearly perfect. The final stat line for the Boston bullpen was one run on two hits, three strikeouts, and two walks over the course of three innings of work. On the other side, Roberto Osuna came in to relieve Verlander who went six innings giving up four runs on seven hits, striking out four, and walking two. Osuna shut down the Sox for the final three innings to give the Astros a chance to get back into the game, allowing no runs on one hit while striking out three.
But there would be no offense to lead Houston back into the game on this night and when Tony Kemp flew out to Andrew Benintendi in left field, the party was on for Boston. With a shot to win their fourth World Series title in this century in four World Series appearances, the Red Sox will await the winner of Game 7 between the Milwaukee Brewers and Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday night. But for now the team can celebrate what they have accomplished as the best team in baseball this season.
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