Red Sox World Series: Andrew Benintendi’s 4-hit performance fuels Game 1 victory

Boston Red Sox outfielder Andrew Benintendi led the offensive attack in Game 1 of the World Series with a four-hit performance.

Andrew Benintendi was in the middle of the action when the Boston Red Sox put up eight runs in Game 1 of the World Series, leading the way with four hits.

The 4-for-5 performance makes Benintendi only the third Red Sox player in franchise history to collect 4+ hits in a World Series game, joining Jacoby Ellsbury (2007) and Wally Moses (1946).

Perhaps the most impressive aspect of this accomplishment is that all four hits came against a left-handed pitcher. The first three came off Los Angeles Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw, who previously had only allowed three left-handed hitters to collect 3+ hits against him in a game.

This is the first time in his career that Benintendi has collected 4+ hits against lefties in the same game. He has struggled against southpaws, batting .247 with a .694 OPS against them this season. That hasn’t been the case in the playoffs. He’s 7-for-14 with a walk and only one strikeout against lefties this postseason.

His first hit came early in the first inning when Benintendi pulled a slider from Kershaw to right field for a base hit, driving in Mookie Betts for the game’s first run. He took the first pitch for a high strike to allow Betts the opportunity to steal second base, putting him in scoring position to be driven home.

In the third inning, Benintendi smacked a Kershaw fastball the other way for a base hit to left. Unfortunately, he didn’t hustle out of the box, preventing him from taking advantage when Chris Taylor misplayed the ball that plopped down in front of him. Benny settled for a single and was wiped out on a fielder’s choice by Steve Pearce. A J.D. Martinez double would end up scoring Pearce, who would have easily been out had the bases been empty when he hit into on the fielder’s choice. Benintendi’s hit turned out to be productive after all.

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The third hit Benintendi collected against Kershaw chased the Dodgers’ ace from the game. Benny took a slider down and away to the opposite field on the first pitch he saw in the at-bat. The ball was hit harder than his last base hit but this time Taylor did an excellent job of cutting it off before it could get to the wall. Otherwise, it would easily have been extra bases for Benintendi and Betts possibly would have scored from first base. Both players would eventually score in the inning when the Red Sox knocked around reliever Ryan Madson.

Benintendi’s fourth and final hit of the game was a bit of a gift despite showing in the boxscores as his only extra-base hit of the bunch. A bloop fly ball landed between a scrambling Taylor and third baseman Justin Turner, bouncing into the seats in shallow left for a ground rule double.

Would it have mattered if the ball stayed in play to hold Benny to a single considering he scored on the Eduardo Nunez three-run homer later that inning? Possibly. The Dodgers intentionally walked Martinez with first base open. If Benintendi is on first, maybe they pitch to Martinez. If he doesn’t get on base then the Xander Bogaerts strikeout that followed would have ended the inning. In that scenario, maybe the Nunez homer never happens. If it does, it would have to wait for the next inning with the bases empty. Boston would win the game anyway but a one or two run margin would have been a lot more nervewracking than an 8-4 lead.

Benintendi is off to an early lead in the World Series MVP race. Considering the Dodgers can throw three left-handed starters at the Red Sox in this series, his success against southpaws this postseason is a promising sign that we can count on him to keep the hits coming.