2018 WORLD SERIES SIMULATION

 
Two of baseball’s historic franchises meet in this year’s World Series. Boston won a franchise-record 108 games during the regular season and then disposed of their archrival Yankees and the defending champion Astros with ease. Los Angeles battled NL#1 seed Milwaukee before besting them in Game 7 to reach their second consecutive World Series.

Will Boston continue their 21st century dominance or will Los Angeles claim their first title since 1988? Only time will tell but for those that can’t wait, we played it out using Strat-O-Matic Baseball Daily. For both the 2017 World Series and this year’s AL Wild Card and NL Wild Card games we ran simulations with great accuracy. Baseball Daily uses actual stats, projections, and hot/cold streaks to accurately reflect where each player is performing today.

Here we go!

LOS ANGELES (NL) vs. BOSTON

 Game 1

Los Angeles  0   4  0
Boston        6 10  0

Clayton Kershaw runs into immediate trouble, giving up a leadoff homerun to Mookie Betts and a solo shot to Xander Bogaerts. Jackie Bradley added an RBI double in the second before Betts knocked him in, giving Boston a 4-0 lead through 2. There was no looking back for Boston as Chris Sale dominated from first pitch on his way to an historic game. He struck out the first five hitters, and 14 through five innings. He finished with 19 strikeouts, breaking Bob Gibson’s 50-year old World Series strikeout record (17) in the process.

Game 2

Los Angeles  3  8  0
Boston        4 11 0

Los Angeles strikes first in this one as Matt Kemp’s RBI groundout with the bases loaded gives LA an early 1-0 lead. Boston finally gets to Ryu in the 5th, putting runners at 2nd and 3rd with only one out. Pedro Baez enters the game to put out the fire but JD Martinez singles in two runs to give Boston the lead. Justin Turner responds with a 2-run homer to give LA the lead back but that is quickly erased as Ian Kinsler scores after his 6th inning triple. Both bullpens manage to hold the other team scoreless until pinch-hitter Brock Holt leads off the 9th inning with a walk-off homerun off Kenley Jansen.

 Game 3

Boston          3  6  0

Los Angeles    2  9  1

The series moved to LA but Boston holds on to their momentum. JD Martinez homers in the first and second baseman (!) Mookie Betts homers in the 6th. Los Angeles took a brief 2-1 lead in between but Betts’ homer ties the game. JD breaks it later in the 6th with a base hit and Boston’s bullpen goes 5 scoreless innings to give them a 3-0 series lead.

Game 4

Boston            3  6  0

Los Angeles  4  7  1

Kershaw comes back and tosses 5 scoreless to help keep Los Angeles alive. Home runs by Manny Machado and Cody Bellinger build a 4-1 lead for LA heading into the 9th inning. Jansen gave up 3 straight hits to start the 9th but eventually worked his way out of it to keep the series going.

Game 5

Boston        8 11 0

Los Angeles  5  8  1

Mookie and JD each hit first inning home runs and Boston captures their 4th World Championship in 15 years. Eduardo Nunez added two home runs and Chris Sale fights through 5 to get his second win of the series.

BOSTON WINS WORLD SERIES
4-1

MVP – JD Martinez, 7-19 [.368], 3 HR, 10 RBI

Boston Highlights – Mookie Betts (8-19, 3 HR), Chris Sale (2-0, 2.77 ERA, 30 K), Boston Bullpen (2 ER in 16.2 IP)

Los Angeles Highlights – Manny Machado (7-17, 2 HR), Cody Bellinger (2 HR), Kenta Maeda (7.2 scoreless IP in relief)