BOSTON -- Rafael Devers was less than an hour shy of his 22nd birthday when he was pulled for a pinch hitter in the bottom of the seventh inning on Tuesday night.

It seemed like somewhat odd timing from Alex Cora. Devers had already walked, singled and driven in a run in Game 1 of the World Series at Fenway Park. The third baseman became just the fourth man to record at least one RBI in each of his first eight career postseason starts, and his 13 postseason runs [...]

BOSTON -- Rafael Devers was less than an hour shy of his 22nd birthday when he was pulled for a pinch hitter in the bottom of the seventh inning on Tuesday night.

It seemed like somewhat odd timing from Alex Cora. Devers had already walked, singled and driven in a run in Game 1 of the World Series at Fenway Park. The third baseman became just the fourth man to record at least one RBI in each of his first eight career postseason starts, and his 13 postseason runs batted in rank him behind only Andruw Jones among players age 21 or younger.

But as he’s done so many other times in his debut season as Red Sox manager, Cora stuck to his game plan. Lineups and late-game decisions would be subject to matchups, and Cora felt Eduardo Nunez was preferable to Devers going left-left with Dodgers reliever Alex Wood.

Why should the outcome have been any different in this seemingly charmed 2018? Of course Nunez belted a three-run homer over the Green Monster, one that sealed victory for Boston in front of 38,454 fans.

The Red Sox turned a one-run lead into a comfortable cushion and Craig Kimbrel recorded the final three outs in a 1-2-3 top of the ninth. Boston doubled up Los Angeles, 8-4, and continued the momentum it gained by vanquishing a pair of 100-win opponents in each of the postseason’s first two rounds.

Wood inherited a pair of runners after Andrew Benintendi looped a ground-rule double down the line in left and J.D. Martinez drew an intentional walk. He threw a sweeping breaking ball down and in that Nunez golfed into the first row of the stands sitting high above Lansdowne Street. That broke open what was a 5-4 game, taking away any stress from Nathan Eovaldi in the eighth or Kimbrel in the ninth.

The Red Sox have now won the opening game of the Fall Classic in six straight appearances. Boston also improved to 13-2 in its last 15 games in the sport’s showcase event, following four-game sweeps in 2004 and 2007 and a 4-2 victory over the Cardinals in 2013. Only the Yankees have enjoyed such a stretch before, their latest coming when they won 16 of 17 games after falling behind 2-0 to the Braves in 1996.

Benintendi became just the third Boston player to have four hits in a World Series game, joining Wally Moses (1946) and Jacoby Ellsbury (2007). Martinez drove in a pair of runs and four of the five Red Sox relievers logged scoreless stints totaling 4 1/3 innings.

The matchup between two of the finest starting pitchers of this generation lasted a mere 24 outs. Chris Sale and Clayton Kershaw each exited before retiring a batter in the fifth inning, and Kershaw was on the hook for the loss by the time Ryan Madson finished recording his three outs.

Sale managed to notch seven strikeouts, but he looked like a pitcher who hadn’t worked in 10 days. The Dodgers grinded their way into deep counts and forced the left-hander to throw 91 pitches. Matt Kemp’s one-out home run in the second and two RBI by Manny Machado – one on a single to left in the third, one on a grounder to second in the fifth – tagged Sale with the last of his three earned runs.

Kershaw was hit hard from the outset, as Mookie Betts lined a leadoff single to center, stole second base and scored on a single through the right side by Benintendi in the first. Martinez followed one batter later with a bullet single to left center, giving the Red Sox a 2-0 lead.

Martinez launched a two-out RBI double off the wall in center in the third before the top of the order chased Kershaw next time through in the fifth. Betts walked and Benintendi singled to left center to bring on Madson, who surrendered a fielder’s choice grounder by Xander Bogaerts and an RBI single through the right side by Devers. Both inherited runs were charged to Kershaw, whose postseason earned-run average rose to 4.28.