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Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora holds the championship trophy after Game 5 of baseball’s World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday, Oct. 28, 2018, in Los Angeles.. (AP)
The Boston Red Sox defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-1 on Sunday night to win their first World Series title since 2013 and ninth championship in franchise history.
It is Boston’s fourth title since 2004 – after breaking the dreaded Curse of the Bambino. The Red Sox won the first two games of the series before dropping a historic marathon in Game 3. The team bounced back to win the final two games of the series, flushing the Dodgers out in five games.
The Red Sox, who only lost three games this entire postseason, were propelled in Game 5 by two home runs from eventual World Series MVP Steve Peace.
Pearce started the game off with a two-run home run off Clayton Kershaw in the first inning and helped seal the deal for Boston in the eighth inning with a home run off reliever Pedro Baez.
“Best feeling in my life,” Pearce said after the game.
Pearce joined Babe Ruth and Ted Kluszewski as the only players who are 35 years older or older to have two or more home runs in a World Series game, according to MLB Stat of the Day.
Behind first-year manager Alex Cora, the Red Sox won a club-record 108 games and went 11-3 in the postseason. Boston beat the 100-win New York Yankees and the defending World Series champion Houston Astros on their way to the title. Cora, who played on the Red Sox’s 2007 World Series team, became the first manager from Puerto Rico to win a title and fifth manager to do it in his first year.
“I don’t know where we stand in history and all that,” the team’s president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said. “If somebody would say you’re going to win 119 games and lose 57, we’d never, ever fathom that.”
David Price picked up his second win of the World Series. He gave up a clutch home run to Dodgers first baseman David Freese in the first inning, but only allowed two hits after that.
On the other side, the Dodgers only were able to garner three hits and didn’t do much to help Kershaw on the mound.
Boston Red Sox’s Steve Pearce celebrates his second home run during the eighth inning in Game 5 of the World Series baseball game against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday, Oct. 28, 2018, in Los Angeles. (AP)
The lefty ace allowed four runs on seven hits – three of which were home runs – in seven innings of work. He dropped to a 9-10 record with a 4.32 ERA in 30 postseason games.
“It just hurts worse when you make it all the way and get second place,” he said after the game.
It is the second straight season the Dodgers have made the World Series, only to lose on their home field. Los Angeles lost in seven games to the Astros last season.
“Back-to-back years, falling short in the World Series, it’s brutal,” Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner said, according to the Los Angeles Times. “We’ve just got to try to hang our hats on all the good things that happened this year.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.