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Red Sox lead series 2-0
The story so far has been of the complete evaporation of the Dodgers’ offense. Now, you would generally expect post-season offense to be a little harder to come by, since you’re typically facing the best pitching. But over the first two games in Boston, Los Angeles were held to a single extra-base hit - Matt Kemp’s solo home-run - with a combined line of .175/.239/.222. That’s a .462 OPS, more than three hundred points lower than their regular season figure (.774). Given such futility at the plate, it’s quite impressive they’ve scored as many as six runs.
Curiously, it’s not the three true outcomes which have been the difference between the two sides. The Red Sox have only one home-run as well; it hasn’t exactly been a home-run derby to this point Both have the same number of strikeouts too (20), in virtually the same number of at-bats (the Red Sox have one more, 64-63), and walks are similarly even (7-6 in favor of Boston). The key difference is that the Red Sox are 6-for-18 with runners in scoring position, and the Dodgers are 2-for-10. If that is sustained tonight, Los Angeles will be staring down the barrel of elimination for our viewing get-together tomorrow night.
We can but hope so, anyway.