“Ned Colletti and his gang did great work,” Kasten said, referring to the Dodgers’ previous general manager. “But when we decided to make a change going forward, there were a lot of things we needed to do that were different — and analytics is a very, very shorthand way of describing it. It’s just more analysis, more science, more deep diving into all kinds of things to get the 1 percent, 2 percent, 3 percent edges where you could find something.”

The Red Sox earned 108 regular-season victories this year but had trouble with the Rays, beating them in just five of their 12 meetings after April 10. One of their losses was to Jalen Beeks, a pitcher they traded in the Eovaldi deal. Eovaldi has been a postseason stalwart, winning two starts in the A.L. playoffs and helping Boston win the two World Series games at Fenway Park with stellar work in relief.

“The Rays did a tremendous job of taking care of me and not rushing me in any way, and allowing me to get to the point where I am now,” said Eovaldi, who signed with Tampa Bay after tearing his ulnar collateral ligament as a Yankee in 2016. “They were able to make the big trade and send me over here for Beeks, and he was able to come in and help them win some big games, and they finished the year with 90 wins. Now for me to be over here, it’s in huge part to them.”

Eovaldi was one of the few Tampa Bay pitchers who functioned as a traditional starter. The team used relievers to open many games, with 71 starts this season lasting no more than three innings — by far the most of any team in more than a century of available data.

The strategy helped the Rays to a 3.74 earned run average — second in the A.L. to the Houston Astros — and their contact-heavy offense produced more runs than last season’s Rays, when they went 80-82 with a lineup built on power hitters prone to striking out.

Commissioner Rob Manfred desperately wants games to move at a brisker pace, and he said before Game 2 that he hoped more teams would emphasize putting the ball in play. The increasing leaguewide emphasis on analytics, Manfred said, does not concern him.