Dodgers struggle to find answers on offense, drop Game 2 at Fenway

The cold of Boston felt a little colder for the Dodgers following Game 2 on Wednesday night. Inability to get the final out of an inning has plagued Red Sox opponents all postseason long and the Dodgers have been no different in this series.

With two outs and nobody on in the bottom of the fifth, five consecutive Red Sox batters reached in a three-run inning. The outburst led to a deficit the Dodgers couldn’t dig their way out of, falling 4-2 to put their backs against a wall.

Including the four runs scored Wednesday, the Red Sox have now scored 36 of their 68 runs this postseason with two outs. That figure also includes nine of the 12 runs scored in the World Series.

Hyun-Jin Ryu had retired the first two batters of the inning on just three pitches and had retired nine of the previous 10 hitters after giving up an Ian Kinsler RBI-single in the second inning. With a 2-1 lead, Ryu was cruising against the bottom part of Boston’s order.

Christian Vazquez slapped a single into right field to turn the lineup over to Mookie Betts and that’s all it took to get something going for the Red Sox.

Betts followed with a single of his own to get Ryan Madson going in the Dodger bullpen in a hurry. With Steve Pearce and J.D. Martinez coming up behind Andrew Benintendi, either way the lefty would be Ryu’s last hitter. Benintendi worked an eight-pitch walk to load the bases and bring Madson into the game.

Much like Tuesday night, Madson walked the first batter he faced. Except this time there was no place on the bases for another runner, forcing a run home to tie the game. Martinez followed with a single that dropped in front of Yasiel Puig in right to score a pair.

David Price and the Red Sox bullpen shut down the Dodgers offense, retiring the final 16 batters of the night.

The only life the Dodgers showed with the bats, came all in the fourth inning when they scratched out the three total hits they had all game. David Freese and Manny Machado started with back-to-back singles before Chris Taylor walked to load the bases.

Matt Kemp hit the first pitch into center field to score Freese on a sacrifice fly that tied the game at one apiece. Puig singled later in the inning to bring Machado home with the Dodgers’ first lead of the series.

It didn’t last long and the Dodgers are now tasked with winning four of five from the best team in baseball this season.

“I thought the compete was there,” Dave Roberts told media after the game. “You’ve got to give credit to Price. He made pitches when he needed to. We had him, we had him on the ropes. I thought that early on we stressed him. We had some situational at-bats, got some baserunners, took our walks.”

“The difference is they got the big hit when they needed and we didn’t.”

Up Next

The series shifts to Los Angeles with Walker Buehler taking the ball for the Dodgers. Rick Porcello will start for the Red Sox.

Wednesday Particulars

Home Runs: none

WP: David Price (1-0): 6 IP, 3 hits, 2 runs, 3 walks, 5 strikeouts

LP: Hyun-Jin Ryu (0-1): 4 ²⁄₃ IP, 6 hits, 4 runs, 1 walk, 5 strikeouts

SV: Craig Kimbrel (1): 1 IP