The mantra was that Boston Red Sox starter David Price could not win in the postseason. He found redemption over the past two weeks.
Conventional thinking said that David Price struggled as a starter in the postseason. He had never won a game as a playoff starter, with his teams going 0-10 in those starts. When he was bombed by the Yankees in Game Two of the ALDS, allowing three runs on three hits and two walks, including two homers in his 1.2 innings, one had to wonder if the Boston Red Sox needed to shift him to a relief role for the postseason.
Instead, Price took that outing, and put it behind him. As the Red Sox advanced, he did something he had never done in a postseason before – win as a starter. He earned that victory against the Astros in the ALCS, putting together a solid performance in the series. Maybe, just maybe, price had turned the corner.
Then came the World Series. This would be the ultimate test for Price, a chance to prove once and for all that his postseason struggles were behind him. He answered the bell emphatically in Game Two, throwing six innings of two run ball, allowing three hits and three walks while striking out five. He came back in the next game to get two outs in the ninth inning of the 18 inning marathon that was Game Three, showing more toughness than most would have expected.
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Redemption was ready to be had in Game Five. The Red Sox had a 3-1 series lead, and Price was moved up in the rotation, switching spots with Chris Sale. He had a chance to win that clinching game, changing his narrative once and for all.
Price did exactly that. For just the third time in his 14 playoff starts, Price pitched into the eighth inning. Although he failed to record an out in that frame, he allowed only one run on three hits and two walks, striking out five, over those seven innings. Even with that dominant performance, there was the potential for Price to implode.
Right off the bat, Price had to face adversity. David Freese, the hero of the Cardinals World Series run in 2011, homered on his first pitch of the game. What had been a 2-0 Red Sox lead had been cut in half with one swing of the bat, the momentum that Boston had built taken away. If ever Price was going to revert to his previous postseason form, it was in that moment.
Instead, Price showed a toughness that few likely thought he possessed. He dominated from there on out, outpitching Clayton Kershaw to lead the Red Sox to their fourth championship in the past 15 years. Even if Steve Pearce was named the World Series MVP, Price had something that may have mattered even more – redemption.
David Price came through in the clutch for the Boston Red Sox. Redemption is now at hand.