BOSTON — Red Sox legend Carl Yastrzemski threw out the first pitch and Boston native son James Taylor sang the national anthem, but Mookie Betts delivered the most unforgettable opening act of Game 1 of the World Series on Tuesday night at Fenway Park.
Facing future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw to open the bottom of the first inning, Betts slashed a single up the middle on the lefty’s sixth pitch of the game and immediately stole second base. He rounded third and scored easily when Andrew Benintendi came through with a base hit to right field.
In the grander scheme, it was only one run in one of nine innings inning in the game in one of at least four — and possibly as many as seven — games in the World Series.
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In the moment, though, it was everything.
“We go when Mookie goes. And to start the game off like that, base hit, steal a base, then Benny gets a hit and we’re up 1-0, that’s huge,” Red Sox utility man Brock Holt told Sporting News after the game. “That’s huge for momentum, for the confidence. I’m sure there were some nerves for the guys on the field. So you get up with an early lead like that, it’s kind of like, ‘Alright, we’re in this. This is baseball again, and we’ve got the lead.’ ”
Plenty of drama happened after that opening salvo. The Red Sox wound up winning the game, 8-4, to snag a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. Eduardo Nunez hit a pinch-hit three-run homer to give Boston a much-needed cushion. Both lefty starters — aces Kershaw and Chris Sale — were chased before recording an out in the fifth inning. Benintendi had four hits in his first four World Series at-bats.
It would be easy for Betts’ impact to get lost in the shuffle. Let’s not let that happen, eh?
Betts was given a reprieve when the Dodgers couldn’t track down his one-strike pop-up that landed in no-man’s land near the right-field foul line, and he made the most of it. He fouled off another pitch, took two balls — one a questionable call — and laced a sharp single up the middle off a slider that caught the outside edge of the plate.
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Betts reached base a lot this year, posting a .438 on-base percentage in a season where he batted leadoff in every single one of his 131 starts. Betts on first created issues for opposing pitchers all year, and Game 1 was no different.
“He ignites the lineup,” Red Sox hitting coach Tim Hyers told SN. “When he’s on base, he puts pressure on the pitchers. They have to watch him because he can steal a bag and in a heartbeat he’s on second base.”
He only needed a heartbeat Tuesday.
On the first pitch to Benintendi — a 91-mph fastball well north of the strike zone that the lefty took an “I’m trying to help give my runner an extra moment,” swing at — Betts took off for second base. He reached easily, as catcher Austin Barnes’ throw skipped into center field.
“That puts the fans in the game right away,” Xander Bogaerts said with a grin in the Boston clubhouse after the victory. “That’s one of the skills that he has, stealing bases.
"And he steals a lot of them. He had a great game.”
Betts is an incredible player. He finished the season with power-hitter numbers in the leadoff spot — 32 homers, 47 doubles, .640 slugging percentage, 186 OPS+ — and was named the Sporting News Player of the Year, an award voted on by the players.
With that aggressive base-running creating havoc on baseball’s biggest stage, it was easy to think back a couple of years, to October 2015 when the aggressive Royals raced through the postseason and claimed the World Series title. In 16 playoff games that year, Kansas City stole 14 bases and generally terrorized opponents with their speed.
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Royals outfielder Jarrod Dyson had a favorite saying during that memorable October run to a championship: “That’s what speed do.”
On Tuesday night, speed gave the Red Sox a 1-0 lead just two batters in to the game. I asked Betts after the win if he’d watched Kansas City run through the postseason in 2014 (when they got all the way to Game 7 before losing) and in the title year of 2015.
He grinned.
“No, that’s just our style. They did it their way and if our way is similar, then cool. Our way is to be aggressive and find ways to score some runs.”
That sounds familiar. Betts scored an MLB-best 129 runs in the regular season, despite spending a couple weeks on the disabled list. He added eight runs in nine playoff games leading up to the World Series, and he scored twice in Game 1.
Just because his teammates aren’t surprised at his heroics doesn’t mean they’re not grateful. “He’s one of the best players on the planet,” relief pitcher Matt Barnes said.
“You come to expect so much from the guy, and he continues to deliver time and time again. Having that guy out there, he’s a game-changer.”
That certainly was the case Tuesday night.
