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BOSTON – Batting practice was canceled before Game 1 of the World Series at Fenway Park, but the game is still in place, featuring the branding pitching matchup between Clayton Kershaw of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chris Sale of the Boston Red Sox , two of the best left-handers of this – or any – generation.
The Dodgers have made it official: Clayton Kershaw will be their World Series Game 1 starter Tuesday.
Drew Pomeranz was added to the Red Sox roster for the World Series, while the Dodgers are going with Scott Alexander over Caleb Ferguson.
Legend. Rental. Wunderkind. Moneybags. Here's what you need to know about Red Sox and Dodgers in this year's Fall Classic.
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After some late afternoon showers in Boston, the sun partially came out around 5 pm ET, a rainbow appeared from above the Green Monster all the way to the right-field grandstand, and the grounds was later put back on, even as the skies cleared). Rain returned to Fenway after 6:30 pm, with lightning in the area forcing fans already in the stadium to seek shelter on the concourse.
Dodgers managed Dave Roberts will roll out an unusual lineup, stacking his lineup with the nine right-handed batters against The first time that has happened in a World Series game since 2005, when the Houston Astros did it in a game started by the Chicago White Sox's Mark Buehrle.
The curious choice is the decision to beat Brian Dozier in the leadoff spot. Dozier has an extensive history of AL Central and has hit .255 (12-for-47) with three home runs off him, but he has struggled since joining the Dodgers at the July 31 trade deadline. He did not play much in the first two rounds, going 2-for-11 with two walks and hit .182 / .300 / .350 in 170 regular-season plate appearance with the Dodgers.
It's understandable that Roberts would want to stack up against sales, however, as the only hit runs. Of course, they are not exactly exactly as high as they hit .181 – with almost 100 points higher.
The Red Sox lineup does not feature any major surprises. As he was in a couple games against the Yankees in the ALDS when a lefty, Cora has moved Steve Pearce to the third spot, sliding Martinez J. and Bogaerts Xander back to fourth and fifth. Pearce hit .304 / .400 / .559 against lefties in the regular season. Rafael Devers gets the start at third base over Eduardo Nunez, even though it creates a lefty-lefty matchup against Kershaw, but Devers had a couple of hits in the ALCS, including a three-run homer off Houston's Justin Verlander in Game 5 of the ALCS.
| Dodgers | Red Sox | |
|---|---|---|
| Dozier, 2B | 1 | Betts, RF |
| Turner, 3B | 2 | Benintendi, LF |
| Freese, 1B | 3 | Pearce, 1B |
| Machado, SS | 4 | Martinez, DH |
| Taylor, LF | 5 | Bogaerts, SS |
| Kemp, DH | 6 | Devers, 3B |
| Hernandez, CF | 7 | Kinsler, 2B |
| Puig, RF | 8 | Leon, C |
| Barnes, C | 9 | Bradley, Jr., CF |
| Kerhsaw | SP | Dirty |
The weather could still play a factor, even if the rain stays away (the Weather Channel calls for a 20 percent chance of rain from 8 p.m. onward). The outfield grass will likely be a little slick and the game-time is expected to be in the upper 40s and fall a bit from there. Since the last World Series game at Fenway in 2013, only one other World Series game has started with a temperature below 50 (Game 2 in Cleveland in 2016).
In pregame ceremony news, James Taylor will sing the national anthem and Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski will throw the first pitch – as he has done in Boston's other recent World Series openers. Patriots coach Bill Belichick also had a voiceover for Fox's pregame telecast, with the topic, "How do you make history?"
That's what the Dodgers and Red Sox are trying to do – the Dodgers trying to capture their first World Series title since 1988 and the Red Sox trying to become the sixth team of the expansion era (since 1961) to win at least 108 games the World Series.
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