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LOS ANGELES — On March 31, the third day of the 2018 regular season, the Boston Red Sox moved into first place in the American League East, a position they occupied almost exclusively from that point on. By May, it was clear they were the best team in baseball.
Now, after 119 wins between the regular season and playoffs, they remain unmatched.
And on Sunday, the Red Sox completed the seven-month marathon by cementing their status atop the sport and among the greatest teams of all time. Riding the left arm of David Price and the powerful swings of Steve Pearce, the Red Sox easily dispatched the Los Angeles Dodgers, 5-1, in Game 5 to cap a dominant season and claim the 2018 World Series title.
It is Boston’s first championship since 2013, and fourth in 15 seasons.
“This one, in my mind, was easily the best,” said John Henry, the Red Sox owner. He added: “They were just relentless throughout the season. It was their unity and sense of purpose. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
With the World Series trophy safely secured, there is a case to made that this team fits squarely among the best in history. Only one World Series-winning team — the 1998 Yankees, who won 125 games — won more games through the regular season and the playoffs.
“Look at the numbers and what we were able to do, I’d say absolutely,” closer Craig Kimbrel said.
Only eight teams have ever won more games than Boston’s 108 during the regular season. Led by a rookie manager, Alex Cora, they set a franchise record for wins. Of the regular season’s 187 days, the Red Sox spent 173 in first place. Their longest losing streak was three games. Expectations for another title were high.
“I don’t think there was any pressure,” Red Sox outfielder J.D. Martinez said. “We had a great year, from the beginning. It’s so hard to win a World Series. So many things have to go right.”
Having the best regular-season record is often seen as a curse, an accomplishment that only leads to deeper playoff heartbreak. Boston’s talent, however, could not be stopped even in the chaos of October. En route to a World Series title, they went 119-57. During the postseason, they posted a 11-3 record against the 100-win Yankees, the 2017 champion Houston Astros and the Dodgers — losing just once in each round.
“Every team has flaws,” Red Sox bench coach Ron Roenicke said. “And we see the flaws because we’re here with them everyday. But when you compare them to other teams and think we won 108 games, there sure can’t be too many flaws.”
But even some of the apparent flaws became strengths in the playoffs. Price, Boston’s $217 million pitcher, had not won a postseason start in his 11-year career before this season. Now he has three, including a dominant performance against the Dodgers on short rest in Game 5. He vexed Los Angeles over seven innings on Sunday, striking out five and pitching with the cool confidence that he seemed to lack in past Octobers.
“This is a very special team,” Price said.
The Red Sox had planned to start their ace, Chris Sale, on regular rest, but they opted to give him even more time because of his recent ailments. Cora insisted that Price was ready for the assignment despite having started Game 2 and having pitched in relief in the 18-inning Game 3.
Price made the decision look good, and Sale strolled in to strike out the side and close out the victory in the ninth inning.
The rest of Boston’s power-pitching and power-hitting formula functioned almost seamlessly, too. Facing the Dodgers’ ace, Clayton Kershaw, the Red Sox showed again why they were the best offense in baseball during the regular season.
Three batters into the game, Pearce clobbered a two-run homer to center field to give the Red Sox the lead for good. A veteran role player acquired in a minor trade in June, Pearce has proved invaluable. Often overshadowed by the star sluggers Mookie Betts and Martinez during the season, Pearce drove in eight of Boston’s 28 runs in the World Series and was named its most valuable player.
Pearce’s acquisition is one of the many key moves orchestrated by the Red Sox’president for baseball operations, Dave Dombrowski.
When Dombrowski took over in August 2015, he had a strong core of young players: Andrew Benintendi, Xander Bogaerts, Jackie Bradley Jr., Rafael Devers and Betts, among others. He supplemented the roster by spending and trading away highly regarded prospects for proven stars.
Before the 2016 season, he traded a package of young players for Kimbrel and signed Price. Before the 2017 season, he shipped away two of the team’s best prospects for Sale. This off-season, he spent $110 million on Martinez.
Consistently among the biggest spenders in baseball, the Red Sox led the major leagues with a payroll exceeding $230 million this year. And on Sunday, the young stars and the high-prized talent helped deliver the decisive victory.
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After Price surrendered his lone run on his first pitch of the night, a solo blast by David Freese, the Red Sox offense started to pick apart Kershaw again.
In the sixth inning, Betts, who entered Sunday hitting .207 in the postseason, smashed a Kershaw slider over the left-field wall for a solo home run. It was his first career postseason homer, fulfilling the premonition of his manager, who had predicted that Betts would finally break out in Game 5.
It was another example of Cora’s belief in his players that has defined his managing.
While many managers have sputtered in their first season, Cora has exuded confidence, excelled with aggressive tactics, built strong relationships with his players and blended all aspects of the job, from analytics to the human touch.
“We knew we had a good ball club going into spring training,” Red Sox pitcher Rick Porcello said. “But for me, the guy who solidified everything and brought everyone together is Alex Cora.”
Cora is the second Latin American-born manager to win the World Series, joining Ozzie Guillen, a native of Venezuela, who did it in 2005 with the Chicago White Sox. Guillen won his in his second year as a manager. Cora did it in his first try, a feat also accomplished by two other Red Sox managers during this stretch of titles — Terry Francona in 2004 and John Farrell in 2013.
“Somebody asked me a week ago, ‘What was better, to win as a player, as a bench coach or as a manager?’” Cora said of his rings as a Red Sox player and Astros’ coach. “As a player, I was just utility guy, and last year I was a bench coach. This feels better.”
From the dugout on Sunday, Cora watched Martinez snap out of his World Series skid by clobbering his first home run of the World Series in the seventh inning to give the Red Sox a 4-1 lead.
An inning later, Pearce added his second blast of the game, throwing his arm in the air as he ran around the bases and the Red Sox dugout burst into celebrations.
Joe Kelly and Sale took over from there. And finally, after Sale struck out the Dodgers slugger Manny Machado to close out the victory, the Red Sox assumed a crown they seemed destined to win all season.
“This is incredible,” Sale said. “This is everything I’ve ever dreamed of.”
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