The Red Sox Are Rolling And It Blows

The Red Sox took a 2–0 lead in the World Series Wednesday night. It is befitting of this hell universe that another Boston sports team is on the cusp of winning a championship.

For the second night in a row the game seemed to turn on Dodgers manager Dave Roberts’s decision to use Ryan Madson in a high-leverage relief situation. Tuesday night, Madson inherited a couple baserunners from Clayton Kershaw, in a tie game, and promptly walked the bags full and put two runs across before escaping the inning. Wednesday night it was more of the same: Madson came on with the bases loaded and two out; he walked in a run and allowed an RBI single for what would eventually be the winning margin. Agonizingly, all four Red Sox runs were scored with two outs.

Matters were not helped by the Dodge Men forgetting how to hit the ball Wednesday night. They loaded the bases and plated a pair of runs in the fourth inning, and then failed to put a single runner on base for the entire rest of the game. David Price pitched six strong innings, and Joe Kelly, Nathan Eovaldi, and Craig Kimbrel shut the Dodgers out down the stretch. Those three have now pitched six combined perfect innings in this World Series.

The series shifts to Dodger Stadium on Friday for Game 3. No team has ever recovered from an 0–3 deficit in World Series history. The Dodgers spent the entire regular season digging their way out of a hole, but that one may be beyond even them.