WORLD SERIES: David Price ready to start for Red Sox in Game 2

His first playoff win as a starter behind him, left-hander will oppose Dodgers' Hyun-Jin Ryu.

BOSTON – Red Sox manager Alex Cora insisted David Price isn’t any more relaxed, relieved or confident since he finally won a postseason game as a starter in the deciding Game 5 of the ALCS in Houston last Thursday.

“I see the same guy,” Cora said before Game 1 of the World Series against the Dodgers Tuesday night at Fenway Park. “I see a teammate taking care of a lot of stuff in the clubhouse, getting ready for his next start. Nothing has changed, nothing has changed.”

Actually, Price admitted that a lot had changed. He said he feels “lighter” since he earned his first postseason victory as a starter after suffering nine defeats.

“Today it’s definitely a weight lifted off of me for sure,” he said. “Not like food tastes any better or anything like that, but it was time and I’m definitely glad that the time came and we moved past it.”

Price said he actually looked forward to World Series media day on Monday because he wouldn’t have to answer any more questions about why he couldn’t win as a starter in the postseason – his only two postseason victories prior to Game 5 came in relief.

The Sox now have a postseason victory to show for the seven-year, $217-million contract they signed Price to in December 2015, but there is another question that Price still must answer: Can he win again?

“He knows that his next start is a big start,” Cora said.

Price is scheduled to start Game 2 of the World Series at 8:09 p.m. Wednesday at Fenway Park against fellow southpaw Hyun-Jin Ryu and the Dodgers. We’ll find out then if the 33-year-old Price can finally relax and pitch the way he did during the regular season when he posted a 16-7 record and a 3.58 ERA.

Few picked the struggling Price to out-pitch Houston’s Justin Verlander in Game 5 on only three days' rest and after warming up in the bullpen the night before, but he did. Verlander had pitched 26 consecutive innings of shutout ball in elimination games before J.D. Martinez homered off him in the third inning. Price threw 40 pitches while warming up in the bullpen late in Game 4 in case he was needed in relief and said he “figured something out” that helped him toss six innings in Game 5 of three-hit, shutout ball while walking none and fanning nine, his most in the postseason.

“Just something that makes my delivery just flow a little better,” he said Tuesday, “kind of put my arm more on time for every throw. Just put me in position to execute every pitch.”

Although it worked out well warming up in the bullpen the night before his last start, Price said he had no intention of doing the same to prepare him for Game 2. Instead, he simply had a game of catch before Game 1.

Price threw far more change-ups in Game 5 than he ever had before and kept the Astros off balance. Houston swung and missed at the change-up 12 times.

“His change-up actually played like a split,” Cora said.

Price credited his former Tampa Bay teammate James Shield with teaching him to throw his change-up.

“One of the guys,” Price said, “that had one of the best change-ups in all of baseball, to work with me on it every single day, that was huge.”

Price said he’s received a “very good reaction” since his victory.

“Still have a lot of text messages to get back to,” he said, “a lot of phone calls, just a lot of positivity. I appreciate it. I know I have a very good following with all my friends and family and my hometown and everywhere that I’ve played, just everybody trying to reach out and just telling me how proud they are of me. I definitely appreciate that. It’s been a very good reception, I guess.”

While Price is coming off his best postseason start, Ryu will try to bounce back from his worst. The 31-year-old South Korean suffered the loss in Game 6 at Milwaukee on Friday, allowing five runs in three innings on seven hits and two walks in his sixth postseason start. He has pitched progressively worse throughout this postseason, earning the win in Game 1 of the NLDS vs. Atlanta with seven shutout innings at Dodger Stadium then allowing six hits and two runs in 4-1/3 innings in Game 2 at Milwaukee.

Price is 0-1 against the Dodgers in his career, but he’s been pretty effective in his two starts, registering a 2.25 ERA over 12 innings. Ryu is also 0-1 against the Sox, allowing four runs in five innings for a 7.20 ERA in his only start.

Ryu saw Fenway Park for the first time on Monday. Asked his initial impression of the Green Monster, Ryu replied through an interpreter: It’s very tall.”