BOSTON _ Bullied for the second game in a row at Fenway Park, the Dodgers will return to Los Angeles on Thursday with their season in jeopardy of ending this weekend at Dodger Stadium. After a 4-2 defeat Wednesday in Game 2 of the World Series, the Dodgers trail by two games and have little immediate reason for optimism.
The high-flying offense has yet to materialize. Their starting pitchers have yet to record an out in the sixth inning. Their bullpen has yet to find a mess they can clean up. Ryan Madson played a pivotal role for the second night in a row, handing back the lead by allowing three inherited runners to score in the fifth inning.
The hitters produced a fourth-inning flurry but little else against Boston starter David Price. Price spun six innings of two-run baseball, topping the 4 2/3 innings from Ryu. Charged with four runs on the evening, Ryu watched three score from the bench with Madson on the mound.
Manager Dave Roberts opened Game 2 with the same lineup as Game 1. The adjustments he stressed were small. Enrique Hernandez would play shallower in center field. The coaching staff counseled Yasiel Puig to avoid overthrowing the cut-off man. The team aimed to prevent creating openings for the Red Sox offense.
"Teams that play well at home feast on extra outs, extra bases," Roberts said before the game. "You have to minimize that. For us to play the game straight, we're going to come out on top. But if we don't, we just make it tough on ourselves."
The offense faced Price, who was coming off the first postseason victory as a starter in his career. His playoff resume was littered with duds, but he threw six scoreless innings on short rest in the American League Championship Series clincher over Houston.
Price looked strong at the outset on Wednesday. He froze Justin Turner with a 92-mph fastball for a first-inning strikeout. Chris Taylor fanned on another fastball in the second, and Price got a charitable called third strike from umpire Kerwin Danley to ring up Matt Kemp later in the inning.
Boston built a lead for Price in the bottom of the second inning. Ryu got punished for a flat changeup to shortstop Xander Bogaerts, who banged a double off The Green Monster. Ian Kinsler laced a single into left which brought home Bogaerts.
In Game 1, the Dodgers forced Chris Sale to throw 72 pitches to collect nine outs. Price finished the third inning at 43 pitches. His only blemishes were a pair of walks. After Brian Dozier took a close 3-2 fastball for a two-out walk in the third, Price induced a groundout from Turner with a changeup.
David Freese broke up Price's no-hit bid with a single to start the fourth. Manny Machado followed with another single. A walk by Chris Taylor loaded the bases with none out. Matt Kemp hacked at a first-pitch changeup, tying the game with a sacrifice fly. Yasiel Puig gave the Dodgers the lead by lifting a 93-mph fastball over Kinsler's head for an RBI single.
It was the first lead of the series for the Dodgers. Ryu tried to keep it safe.
The second inning for Ryu ended after a single by outfielder Jackie Bradley Jr. Kinsler was thrown out by Chris Taylor while trying to sprint from first to third. Handed an out by his hosts, Ryu embarked on a roll. He retired eight of the next nine batters he faced, with a pair of strikeouts in the fourth inning.
The ride ended in the fifth. Ryu permitted a two-out single to catcher Christian Vazquez, who hit .207 during the regular season. Mookie Betts generated his second hit in as many at-bats. As Ryu prepared for the left-handed-hitting outfielder Andrew Benintendi, Madson started to warm in the bullpen.
The concept of warming up took on new meaning at Fenway Park. Madson mentioned earlier on Wednesday that he was thrown off-guard by the temperature while loosening up on Tuesday. When he came into the game, he threw a wild pitch and walked the first batter he faced, then allowed both runners on base to score. Madson suggested he was still fighting through his mechanics in the first at-bat, because he wasn't yet ready.
The temperature registered at 47 degrees at first pitch on Wednesday, but Madson had ample time to prepare for his assignment. As Madson threw in the bullpen, Ryu and Benintendi engaged in a protracted confrontation. The affair lasted eight pitches and included three separate mound visits. It ended with a fastball in the dirt, and Benintendi trotting to first base.
The walk ended Ryu's evening and dumped Madson back into the deep end. He sank. Madson issued a five-pitch walk to first baseman Steve Pearce, flinging four fastballs above the zone to force in the game-tying run.
Up next was Martinez, the former Diamondback who slugged .629 this season and led baseball with 130 RBI. Earlier in the day, Madson found an apt metaphor for facing Martinez. He compared the experience to being "in a pit with a rattlesnake," he said. "And one bad move, you'll get bit if you're not paying attention."
Madson felt the sting on a 94-mph fastball on the inner half of the plate. Martinez displayed enough strength to muscle a two-run, opposite-field single into right. The hit returned the lead to Boston. The Red Sox would not part with it.
