2018 World Series Game 5 GameThread: Boston Red Sox at Los Angeles Dodgers

A win in the 18-inning, marathon Game 3 in Dodger Stadium got the Los Angeles Dodgers back into the 2018 World Series, and Dave Roberts’ squad had a 4-0 lead after six innings in Game 4 last night, but a late rally by the Boston Red Sox gave Alex Cora’s club a 9-6 victory and a 3-1 advantage in the 114th Fall Classic.

So how will LA bounce back from an emotional 24-hour period which left them on the brink of elimination?

“It is a tough loss,” Roberts told reporters after last night’s game.

“Any loss in a World Series is difficult, obviously, but now we’re in a situation where we’re do or die. To their credit, they fought back and won a baseball game. So now it’s kind of we’ve just got to bow our necks and try to win a baseball game and it’s one day at a time.”

Having seen what the Sox have to offer over the first four games, what does Roberts make of the American League champs?

“Obviously, the 108 wins speaks for itself in the regular season,” he said.

“They’re very balanced. They pitch well. They put together good at-bats. They play defense.

“But, you know, we’ve still got to play. And we’re not out yet. We’ve got to go out there and still, yeah, respect what they’ve done but our guys aren’t done. We’ve got our best going tomorrow and we’re expecting to win a baseball game.”

The Dodgers’ “best” is, of course, Clayton Kershaw, who’s set to start against Red Sox’ lefty David Price tonight.

Alex Cora was asked what his team showed him by rallying from a 4-0 deficit last night to take the game and a 3-1 lead in the series.

“There’s only two teams left in the big leagues right now, and both teams are going to fight till the end,” Cora said. “We did it, they did it, too, until the last inning. Sometimes in October we talk about mechanics and how you feel at the plate and all that, and sometimes it’s will. And you will yourself to do great things. And it started very simple. A few good at-bats and then the big swing, and we kept rolling and we didn’t stop playing.”

“I love my team,” Cora added. “I mean, they’re very talented. They understand that it takes nine innings or 18 innings and 7 hours and 15 minutes to finish games, but they love to play baseball. They’ve been doing it since Spring Training. They’ve been very consistent throughout. And now we’re in this position.”

Will the Red Sox wrap it up? Will the Dodgers live to play another day? It’s Price vs Kershaw in Game 5 tonight, which starts at 8:15 PM EDT.

HERE ARE THE DODGERS & SOX’ LINEUPS FOR WORLD SERIES GAME 5: