Los Angeles @ Boston preview

Last Meeting ( Oct 23, 2018 ) LA Dodgers 4, Boston 8

David Price recorded his first career playoff victory as a starting pitcher in his 12th attempt and now looks to make it two in a row when the Boston Red Sox host the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday for Game 2 of the World Series. The left-hander set aside his longstanding postseason struggles with six scoreless innings in the American League Championship Series-clinching win over Houston.

Price, who will be trying to help Boston take a 2-0 series lead, was bombarded with questions and routinely ridiculed for his October issues and admitted Tuesday that he feels a lot less pressure now that he is 1-9 as a starter. "It's definitely a weight lifted off of me, for sure," Price said during his press conference. "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. And I look forward to doing the same thing (Wednesday)." The Red Sox recorded an 8-4 win in Game 1 as Andrew Benintendi had four hits and Eduardo Nunez belted a pinch-hit, three-run homer, while Manny Machado drove in three runs for the Dodgers. "Our guys, like you've seen all year, are going to fight," Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts said in his postgame press conference. "And we don't expect (the Red Sox) to give us anything. So we expect it to be a hard-fought series."

TV: 8:09 p.m. ET, FOX

PITCHING MATCHUP: Dodgers LH Hyun-Jin Ryu (1-1, 4.40 ERA) vs. Red Sox LH David Price (1-1, 5.11)

Ryu never has pitched in Fenway Park and took some time to study the playing field dimensions on Monday. "When I was in Korea, I only saw Fenway Park through TV, and same like here in the States," the South Korean said through a translator during his press conference. "It took me this long to actually get here to the Fenway Park. And my initial reaction to the Green Monster is, it's very tall. I don't think there is going to be much difference between a left-handed pitcher and a right-handed pitcher because the dimension is still going to stay the same regardless." The 31-year-old Ryu is 2-1 with a 3.56 ERA in six career postseason starts.

While Price is happy to have a winning start on his postseason resume, Red Sox manager Alex Cora insists the 33-year-old is going about his business in his typical fashion. "Nothing has changed," Cora said during a press conference. "He talked about it, obviously, after the clincher, that he doesn't have to answer questions, but he knows that his next start is a big start. (Wednesday) is going to be a big one. So we count on him." Price is 3-9 with a 5.04 ERA in 20 career postseason appearances (12 starts), with the first two wins coming as a reliever.

WALK-OFFS

1. The Red Sox are 8-0 this postseason when scoring first.

2. Benintendi joined Wally Moses (Game 4, 1946) and Jacoby Ellsbury (Game 3, 2007) as the only Boston players with four hits in a World Series game.

3. Los Angeles DH Matt Kemp became the 36th player to homer in his first World Series at-bat.

PREDICTION: Dodgers 6, Red Sox 4