When asked about Boston’s offensive approach in an on-field interview after the game, Benintendi agreed that the word relentless was right to describe the Red Sox.

“Up and down the lineup there’s not an easy out,” he said. “We’re gonna grind out at-bats.”

With Rafael Devers, a left-handed hitting third baseman due up, Roberts put in the left-handed reliever Alex Wood. Cora countered by bringing in Nunez as a pinch-hitter and Nunez wasted no time, taking a mighty cut at the second pitch he saw — an 84 mile-per-hour breaking ball — and deposited the ball over the Green Monster to put the game out of reach.

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The big mystery leading into Game 1, which was held at Boston’s Fenway Park, had been how much Sale had to offer. The answer was a bit of a mixed bag. The left-handed ace made it through just four innings, allowing five hits and three earned runs. His breaking pitches had the Dodgers fooled repeatedly, leading to seven strikeouts, but he also allowed two walks and a towering home run from Matt Kemp in the second inning.

Beyond Kemp’s home run, the Dodgers’ offense was powered by Manny Machado, the lightning rod shortstop, who regularly endured choruses of boos from the crowd at Fenway but managed to drive in three runs on a single, a groundout and a sacrifice fly.

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