LOS ANGELES — The vote for World Series MVP was close.

According to an MLB source, the count was 3-2, Steve Pearce ahead of David Price.

If you want to know how tough the decision was, ask one of the voters.

That would be me.

J.P. Hoornstra of the Southern California News Group and I shared the Baseball Writers Association of America’s vote for World Series MVP. We were one of five members of the electorate. The others were FOX Sports, ESPN Radio, MLB Network World Feed and MLB.com.

It’s MLB’s policy not to announce the vote totals. But in the interest of transparency as well as a reminder to one and all that it’s Election Day next week and every vote counts, here’s how Hoornstra and I broke it down.

We learned we were voters about 45 minutes into Game 5 on Sunday night, or about the third inning. If it appeared the Red Sox had a decent chance to win the game and clinch the series, our instructions were to come to an agreement on who we wanted to be MVP and relay it in the middle of the seventh inning.

No problem.

Coming into the game, there did not seem to be a clear front-runner, but half an inning in, Pearce moved to the top of the list. His two-run home run off Clayton Kershaw gave the Red Sox the early lead. After a Game 4 in which he hit a solo home run and a three-run double, Pearce’s seven RBI at that point were a team high.

The only other candidate, in my opinion, was Price, who had continued his October turnaround in Game 2 with a six-inning win in which he allowed only three hits and two runs. Plus, he pitched in relief in Game 3.

A strong start in Game 5 would mean competition for Pearce. After Price gave up that solo home run to David Freese in the bottom of the first, Pearce looked to be the easy call, with Price’s narrative returning to his postseason struggles.

As the game progressed, however, Price settled into a familiar groove. He was dominating. In my mind, should the Red Sox win, both Pearce and Price had made major contributions to two victories, and there was nobody else in the race. After six innings of Price shutting down the Dodgers, Hoornstra and I met for the first time and shared some thoughts..

We were split. I wanted Price, he was leaning toward Pearce.

Fine. We decided to punt and meet again after the seventh, another inning in which Price stymied the Dodgers.

I still was good with Price, and Hoornstra seemed to be joining my camp. We agreed that MLB could wait on our vote, that we’d see if Price pitched another inning.

Then the top of the eighth happened. Pearce hit another home run. It was an insurance variety, to be sure, but it lifted his stock once again. One batter and one walk into the eighth, Price was removed, and Joe Kelly made sure the inherited runner didn’t score. Price was going to get his second win, having allowed one run on three hits in seven-plus innings, and Pearce had his second home run of the game, third of the series with a team-high eight RBI.

There was no compelling reason to overlook the value of his bat, but not at Price’s expense.

Hoornstra and I thought Price and Pearce should share MVP honors.

All we knew was we were supposed to come to an agreement on our vote, but not if we could split a vote like that.

We submitted our vote, saying if we could vote for co-MVPs, that was our first choice. But if they needed one name only, we wanted Price.

We were told splitting the vote was fine. Pearce would get half a vote, Price the other half.

Ironically, if we had settled on Price alone as our choice, we would have gotten our wish, co-MVPs. Price and Pearce would have finished with 2.5 votes each from the panel.

So it goes. Pearce won the Willie Mays World Series MVP award and the truck that goes with it, while Price came up empty. In reality, he didn’t. He won the World Series, and gained a new reputation as a sure bet in October.

That’s what happened with one vote. If the other four voting parties wish to divulge their thinking, it would be interesting to hear.

Until then, next Tuesday is Election Day. You know what to do.

Twitter: @MikeSilvermanBB