Kevin McNamara: Sox have all the answers

BOSTON – No matter what the Boston Red Sox seem to have plopped in their playoff path, they find the answer.

It doesn’t matter if it’s Aaron Judge and the Bronx Bombers' dangerous bats.

It doesn’t matter if it’s the World Champion Houston Astros and their rugged lineup.

And on Tuesday night at Fenway Park, it didn’t matter how many times Dave Roberts mixed and matched his Los [...]

BOSTON – No matter what the Boston Red Sox seem to have plopped in their playoff path, they find the answer.

It doesn’t matter if it’s Aaron Judge and the Bronx Bombers' dangerous bats.

It doesn’t matter if it’s the World Champion Houston Astros and their rugged lineup.

And on Tuesday night at Fenway Park, it didn’t matter how many times Dave Roberts mixed and matched his Los Angeles Dodgers lineup.

The Red Sox just keep hitting, keep emptying their bullpen and keep winning. Put Game 1 of the World Series into the win column, this time by an 8-4 score.

If you like to keep a clean scorebook, the Dodgers aren’t your team. Keep your eraser handy because this first Series game is no outlier. Manager Roberts loves to empty his bench. He began the night with three players who cracked 25 or more home runs this season in the dugout, but not for long.

By the sixth inning, every Dodger position player had stepped on the field. Roberts also used four relief pitchers after starter Clayton Kershaw was chased after facing two batters in the fifth inning. He says he'll be ready for more mixing and matching in Game 2 on Wednesday night.

“You look at both rosters and there’s a lot of depth,” said Roberts. “You look at the position players on both sides, grinding at-bats and both teams have the ability to work pitch counts. So you're going to have to go to the pen and play matchups. That's kind of how I saw it but they got the big hit when they needed it.”

What Roberts needs to realize is that no matter who he pinch-hits for or whatever pitcher he turns to, the Red Sox and Alex Cora seem to have an answer.

That’s been the case all month, so why stop now?

Just when it looked like the Sox might be going cross-eyed from all the Dodger moves, Eduardo Nunez happened. Before the game, Cora had told reporters that he could see Nunez stepping in for Rafael Devers with a key at-bat.

That premonition was, of course, spot on.

The game’s biggest moment came in the bottom of the seventh with the Sox clinging to a 5-4 lead. By that point, the Sox had survived yet another no-show start by supposed ace Chris Sale by keeping the pressure on Kershaw and a wave of relievers.

The Dodgers began the inning with lefty Julio Urias on the mound but after a strange-bounce ground-rule double by Andrew Benintendi, Roberts walked to the mound and made a move to Pedro Baez. He struck out Mitch Moreland and Xander Bogaerts, but instead of staying with the hot hand Roberts wanted a lefty to face Rafael Devers.

Alex Wood got the call but Cora countered with right-handed hitting Eduardo Nunez. On the second pitch he saw, Nunez crushed a rising line drive that snuck into the Monster Seats in left for a three-run home run.

In an instant, Nunez joined a long list of unlikely Red Sox World Series heroes, players like Bernie Carbo and Bobby Kielty, who also belted pinch-hit home runs.

 "We talked earlier today and he explained the situation," Nunez said of Cora. "He said he could see the seventh, eighth inning. That was the plan."

Until Nunez’ blast, Sox fans owned plenty of reason to fret. Much of that worry was induced by yet another shaky outing from Chris Sale.

The Red Sox are a team without an ace, but of course that doesn’t matter to these guys. Sale gets the nod from Cora to start a playoff series but then sees the manager’s quick hook. He lasted just one batter (and 91 pitches) into the fifth inning before Cora replaced him with Matt Barnes.

Sale actually lasted one batter longer in this game than he did in his start against Houston that opened the ALCS. He left that game after four innings when he gave up two runs and just one hit. The Sox went on to lose the opener against the Astros, 7-2.

That below-average effort didn’t slow the Sox. Sparked by superior starts from Nathan Eovaldi and David Price, the Sox promptly won four straight games and danced into the World Series.

With Sale’s turn to pitch up next, Cora relied on the extra rest and hoped he’d see a stronger, more efficient start from the tall lefty. No such luck.

Then again this is what we should expect from Sale. He hasn’t lasted six full innings since July 27. The Sox babied him down the stretch, hoping the rest and relaxation he saw throughout the months of August and September would pay off in October. Again, no such luck.

Instead the Red Sox turned early and often to their bullpen. Cora has pulled all of the correct switches with his pen thus far in the playoffs so it’s no surprise that he needed to do so again in the opening game of the World Series. Six relievers held the Dodgers to just one run. Cora again tabbed Eovaldi to pitch in relief and he cruised through the eighth and will get a start out in Los Angeles this weekend.

"I love it, " said Cora. "It's a challenge. They're going to mix and match. They're going to pinch hit and going to their relievers. You have to be ready for when it's going to be the point where that matchup is going to benefit us."

So now the Red Sox have won their last six opening games of the World Series. They’re also 13-2 since the start of the 2004 Series.

Seemingly whatever tests opposing teams throw at them, the Red Sox own all the answers. Why stop now.