Dodgers vs. Red Sox: World Series Game 2 Live Updates

Dodgers vs. Red Sox: World Series Game 2 Starting Lineups and Pitchers

Oct. 24, 2018

Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts took grounders before Game 2 at Fenway Park.CreditDavid J. Phillip/Associated Press

The Boston Red Sox hold a 1-0 lead over the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2018 World Series. Stay here for live inning-by-inning updates and analysis from Fenway Park.

Some pregame reading: Baseball has a classic matchup in the World Series, but a striking shortage of stars. Is that a bad thing?

Dodgers Starting Lineup

2B Brian Dozier

3B Justin Turner

1B David Freese

SS Manny Machado

LF Chris Taylor

DH Matt Kemp

CF Enrique Hernandez

RF Yasiel Puig

C Austin Barnes

LHP Hyun-Jin Ryu

World Series Game 2 Top Story Lines

Manny Machado was the engine of the Dodgers’ offense in Game 1 and he will be facing a familiar foe in David Price thanks to their long history in the American League East. In 44 career plate appearances against David Price, Machado has batted .293 with five home runs, which is tied for the most he has against any pitcher.
Price dominated Houston in Game 5 of the A.L.C.S. He struck out nine batters, allowed just three hits and did not issue any walks in six shutout innings. Go any further back than that and you will have those who insist he is one of the worst starters in postseason history and others who say he has not been nearly as bad as advertised. It’s a relatively small sample of games, but Price, in between his dominant stint as a reliever in Tampa Bay’s run to the World Series in 2008 and his great start last week pitched 74 innings and had a 5.72 E.R.A. He had allowed multiple runs in each of his 11 starts and his teams went 2-9 in those games.
Hyun-jin Ryu only pitched 82 and one-third innings this season as a result of a groin injury, but he was dominant in his 15 starts, with a 1.97 earned-run average and 9.7 strikeouts per nine innings. The left-hander has often pitched well but has battled injuries since joining the Dodgers in 2013. He missed the entire 2015 season with shoulder surgery and at one point in his career went 973 days between wins.
The lineups are actually nearly identical to what they were in Game 1. Los Angeles will start the same batters in the same order while Boston moved Jackie Bradley Jr. up to the eighth spot in the order and replaced Sandy Leon at catcher with Christian Vazquez.
It was 53 degrees when Chris Sale delivered the first pitch of Game 1 and with the game lasting 3 hours 52 minutes, it had dropped down into the mid-40s as the game progressed. It was quite a contrast from last year’s Game 1 of the World Series which took just 2 hours 28 minutes and had a first-pitch temperature of 103 degrees. Boston should be even colder tonight, with The Weather Channel predicting it to be around 44 degrees when the game starts and then slowly going down from there.
Boston has had its share of bullpen issues this season, but Nathan Eovaldi, a starter, has looked fantastic in two appearances as a reliever. He has faced eight batters and allowed just one single with his fastball being clocked in the high-90s. He will be a free agent this off-season and his time in Boston, both in effectiveness and versatility, will serve him well in his job search.

Benjamin Hoffman is a senior staff editor and regular contributor to the Keeping Score column in sports. He joined The Times in 2005. @BenHoffmanNYT • Facebook