LOS ANGELES _ David Price never felt sorry for himself, never made excuses about his postseason failures, never felt like he needed a redemption story. But he gets one anyway.
Price was masterful in Game 5 of the World Series against the Dodgers on Sunday, continuing a dramatic October turnaround that includes wins in three straight starts, including the ALCS clincher and the Series finale, a 5-1 Red Sox victory.
Pitching on short rest _ and on one day's notice after the Red Sox opted for him over Chris Sale as of late Saturday night _ Price allowed one run in seven innings, striking out five and scattering three hits and two walks.
That all came after he started Game 2 and pitched in relief in Game 3. Altogether, Price allowed three runs in 13 2/3 World Series innings, good for a 1.98 ERA.
"Just because I failed in October for about nine straight years, it didn't take away my passion from baseball," Price said before the first of his two World Series starts. "This is something I fell in love with when I was two years old. So the ups and the downs, I knew they were going to happen. I've definitely had many more downs than ups in October, but I've got a lot of baseball left.
"Hopefully, I have a whole lot of October baseball left. This is why I came to Boston. I knew we would be in this position, year in and year out. So I'm happy that we have made it to this point, and everybody in our clubhouse, we all want four more wins."
Price's only blemish Sunday was his first pitch, a fastball that David Freese crushed for a home run. The only other hits off him were Yasiel Puig's second-inning bloop single and Freese's third-inning triple, lost in the lights by right fielder J.D. Martinez, who is normally Boston's DH and let it fall in behind him.
Faced with the tiniest bit of adversity, Price responded by not only getting the next two batters, Justin Turner and Enrique Hernandez, to hit into meek outs, but setting down 14 batters in a row. The last in that sequence, Puig, tapped one to Price, who made the easy toss to first to end the seventh inning. He walked off the field clapping his glove and tapping his chest.
Price walked Chris Taylor to begin the eighth before getting pulled in favor of Joe Kelly. Sale began the ninth inning and finished off Boston's 5-1 win, striking out all three batters as the Red Sox won their first world championship since 2013.
Price's tale was told thoroughly the past few Octobers: He couldn't pitch in the playoffs, they said. And it seemed true. Entering this year's tournament with a career 5.03 postseason ERA _ and zero wins in nine starts _ the noise only got louder when the Yankees knocked him around in Game 2 of the ALDS at Fenway Park, scoring three runs in 1 2/3 innings. Before that game, Price, who has a 3.25 ERA in 11 years in the majors, admitted he didn't know his playoff self was so much worse than his postseason self.
Progress came incrementally for Price, who went 4 2/3 _ one out shy of qualifying for a win _ in Game 2 of the ALCS against the Astros. He was close. Four days later, with nine strikeouts in six shutout innings to finish off Houston, he helped the Red Sox to the pennant. It was Price's team's first win in his 12 postseason starts.
That, Price said, was a relief.
"I guess 'lighter' is a good word," he said recently. "[Before the World Series started] we had media day. I got to look forward to it for the first time in a long time. It's definitely a weight lifted off of me for sure. Not like food tastes better or anything like that. But it was time. And I'm definitely glad that the time came and we moved past it."
