MLB News With The World Series

If Clayton Kershaw and Chris Sale were one pitcher, the combined number from Tuesday night’s World Series opener would be terrible.

The Boston Red Sox won Game 1 8-4, a taut affair until pinch hitter Eduardo Nunez hit a three-run homer in the seventh inning off reliever Alex Wood.

We expected better pitching and fewer runs.

Kershaw, the Dodgers’ starter, and Sale, his Red Sox counterpart, combined to pitch eight innings, allow 12 hits and eight runs, walk five and strike out 12. Their short nights – four innings apiece – led the managers to bleed their bullpens. Twelve pitchers appeared in the game, which then consumed nearly four hours.

The Dodgers scored in four innings, but never more than a run at a time. The Red Sox scored in four innings, but were held to a single run only once.

The Red Sox send out lefty David Price in Wednesday’s game at 8:09 p.m. ET (Fox) at Fenway Park. Price historically hasn’t been great in the playoffs, though he got the clinching win for the Sox in the ALCS against the Houston Astros. Price was 16-7, with a 3.58 ERA during the season.

L.A. counters with Hyun-Jin Ryu (7-3, 1.97 ERA).

 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman