World Series Game 5 Preview

The Red Sox look to clinch their 9th World Series title today, as the Dodger Stadium portion of the Series wraps up today regardless of who wins. After a destruction of the Dodger bullpen, the Red Sox are just a win away from capturing the title, and will have three cracks at doing so. The first one is at 8:15 ET tonight.

Dodgers’ Starter

Looking to save their season for another night, the Dodgers send Ace Clayton Kershaw to the mound. Kershaw struggled in game 1 of the World Series, and now has an even split between great starts and poor starts in the playoffs. If it’s any consolation whatsoever, both poor starts came in game 1 of a series, while the 2 gems did not.

The totals in the poor starts are 10 runs (9 earned) on 13 hits and 5 walks with just 7 strikeouts over 7 innings. The totals in the good starts are so much better, as he allowed just 1 run on 5 hits, walking 2 and striking out 12 over 15 innings. Throw in a perfect relief outing with a pair of strikeouts in another non-game 1 situation, and I’m starting to wonder what his career splits show us (probably nothing).

Red Sox Starter

Why it’s not Chris Sale in a rematch of game 1, I’m not sure, but all the announcements are that today’s starter is David Price. Price started (and won) game 2 of the World Series, but also pitched in relief in game 3, and is now back out there on short rest with an actual appearance in the middle as well. If he struggles, I’m sure everyone will point to overworking of him as opposed to his history, which isn’t something I thought I would ever see. The crazy thing, though, is that if he has another good game, the title of “David Price, World Series MVP” isn’t just something that people laugh hard after saying. It could actually be true.

In game 2 of the World Series, Price showed that he can be a great starter in the Postseason. He worked through 6 very good innings, allowing 2 runs on 3 hits, picking up the win in his second consecutive start. He is the only starting pitcher to register a win in the series, as the relievers have the other 3.

Other Notes

Kenley Jansen might not be the one to look for out of the bullpen late in the game tonight. He’s thrown 3 innings over the last 2 days, and gave up a game tying home run in each one. If there’s any way to get through a win without having to use Jansen, I’m sure Roberts will find a way to do it.

The Red Sox relievers have thrown 2.2 more innings in the series, but have done an immensely better job, the obvious difference in the series. Boston’s relief corps has allowed 5 runs over 23.2 innings, while the Dodgers’ relievers have now surrendered 13 runs over 21 innings. If they pitched in the World Series like they did in the NLCS (5 runs over 31 innings), this could be a very different looking series (of course, the Red Sox are a lot better hitting team than the Brewers or anyone else).

Find the Link

Find the link between Price and the guy who got in the way of Kershaw from winning 4 straight Cy Young awards.