"Red Sox win the World Series!" is what Fox’s Joe Buck shouted into his microphone when Chris Sale Struck out Manny Machado at Dodger stadium to win the 2018 Fall Classic for the Boston Red Sox. The Red Sox magical season started in Fort Myers, Florida when Red Sox skipper Alex Cora made it very clear what kind of team he was going to manage. Cora made it clear that the team was going to be about winning and having immaculate team chemistry. A team really can’t get very far if the players do not like playing with and being around each other. The winning aspect of the team was proved at the end of the season when the Red Sox finished with a total of 119 wins including the postseason. 

After the Red Sox beat the Yankees 3 games to 1 on the ALDS, it was on to the defending champion Houston Astros. The Astros finished the regular season 103-59, first in the AL West. Although the Astros gave the Sox a scare in game one of the league championship series, the Red Sox stormed back from the slight deficit winning the next 4 games to advance to the World Series. In game 2 when the series was tied at 1 game apiece and the Red Sox were leading 4-2 in the bottom of the eight, the bases were loaded for Jackie Bradley Jr. Bradley Jr. hit an absolute bomb into the left-field bleachers at Minute Maid Park to extend his teams lead to 8-2. The Red Sox ended up winning that game and the game the following night advancing to the World series.

The Sox picked up game 1 right where they left off. Andrew Benintendi started the scoring off when he drove in Mookie Betts in the bottom of the first. The next batter was J.D. Martinez who drove Benintendi in within minutes. The Red Sox went on to win game 1 8-4. Game 2 was another victory for the Sox as David Price and Clayton Kershaw faced off in Price’s first World Series Start. Although Price gave up a few walks and a sacrifice fly early on, he battles playing a huge role in helping his team go up 2 games to 0 in the World Series.

As the series shifted to L.A., the Red Sox were looking to keep their feet on the gas. In a game that lasted an astounding 7 hours and 20 minutes, Max Muncy, one of the Dodgers 2nd baseman hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 18th inning lifting his team over the Red Sox claiming a game 3 victory. Nathan Eovaldi pitched the last 6 innings of the game and he was unconscious. Eovaldi struck out 5 giving up just 3 hits. The third hit was the blast given up to Max Muncy to lose the game.

Game 4 was another very close contest. The Dodgers took the lead in the bottom of the 6th when Yasiel Puig hit a three-run off of Red Sox LHP Eduardo Rodriguez. The very next half inning, Red Sox pinch hitter Mitch Moreland hit a 3 run home run to bring the Red Sox within 1 run. In the top of the 8th, World Series MVP Steve Pierce hit a solo shot to left field tying the game at 4. In the top of the 9th, the Sox third baseman Rafael Devers delivered with an RBI single driving in Brock Hold putting the Red Sox ahead 5-4. The Red Sox would get four more runs in that inning with a Steve Pierce bases-clearing double and an RBI single by J.D. Martinez. The Red Sox won the game by a score of 9-6 and went three games to one going into game 5 with a chance to clinch in Los Angeles.

Game 5 went exactly the way the Red Sox hoped it would. World Series MVP Steve Pierce started the fun with a 2 run blast in the top of the first. Aside from David Price’s first pitch of his outing giving up a solo home run to David Freese, he was lights out. Price went 7 innings giving up just three hits and 1 run. He had 5 strikeouts and only 2 walks that did not cost him. In the top of the 6th with one out and a 2-2 count, Mookie Betts hit a solo home run into left field to extend his teams lead to 3-1. Betts’s first career World Series home run. The very next inning, J.D. Martinez got involved in the fun and hit a solo home run of his own extending the lead to 4-1. If two home runs in the World Series wasn’t enough, Steve Pierce eliminated that thought. In the top of the 8th off of Pedro Baez, Pierce hit a moon shot over the left field wall solidifying the Red Sox fate. In the bottom of the 9th, Chris Sale was brought in to face Dodgers SS Manny Machado. On a 1-2 count, Chris Sale threw a nasty slider that broke Machado’s ankles and gave the Red Sox their 9th World Series Championship.