9 thoughts about the Red Sox’ clutch victory in Game 1

Nine thoughts on the Red Sox’ 8-4 victory over the Dodgers in Game 1 of the World Series . . .

1. Question: Did you hate it? Or at least disagree with it? C’mon, it’s OK to admit it. Here, I’ll start: I did not at all like Red Sox manager Alex Cora’s decision to send up Eduardo Nunez to pinch hit for Rafael Devers with the Red Sox leading, 5-4, in the seventh inning, two outs, and two runners on base in the bottom of the seventh inning Tuesday night. Did not like it at all. Sure, Nunez is a righthanded hitter, Devers is a lefty, and lefty Alex Wood was on the mound for the Dodgers. Tactically, it made sense. But Nunez has looked like he’s made out spare parts of injured third basemen of the past lately, and he entered the World Series batting just .188 with one extra-base hit in the postseason. Devers, conversely, has looked like a budding star, blasting a three-run homer off of Astros ace Justin Verlander in the clinching Game 5 of the ALCS and posting a .909 playoff OPS. So what happens? Nunez crushes a three-run homer on Wood’s first pitch, Fenway Park rattles with jubilation, and Cora, wouldn’t you know it, is right again. I’d like to say I’m done second-guessing the Red Sox manager, but that’s an ancient habit difficult to break. The best we can do is quickly acknowledge how wrong we are this time once his wizardry inevitably works again.

2. The much-anticipated Chris Sale-Clayton Kershaw showdown looked like a pitcher’s duel for all of a half-inning. Sale struck out Brian Dozier and Justin Turner, both swinging, to lead off the game, and after a David Freese two-strike single, got Manny Machado to fly to left. His velocity touched 96 miles per hour, and he did not appear to be suffering from any bellybutton-piercing-related aftereffects. That was the version of Sale the home crowd wanted to see . . . and at least in the bottom of the first, they got the version of Kershaw they wanted to see, too. Kershaw, who entered with a 5.44 ERA in nine career Game 1 playoff starts, allowed RBI singles to Andrew Benintendi and J.D. Martinez in the Red Sox’ first turn at-bat, briefly teasing that this one might turn into a rout.

3. Neither got through the fifth, which is sort of by design in these changing times when even elite starters don’t always get a third turn through the lineup. (I must admit it also takes some getting used to seeing journeymen like Freese and Steve Pearce batting third, as competent as they both are.) But it still doesn’t seem right to see Sale and Kershaw both gone before the fifth inning was complete, having combined to pitch 8 innings, allow 12 hits and 8 runs, while walking 5 and striking out 12. Where’s Luis Tiant throwing 173 pitches in Game 4 of the 1975 World Series when you need him? Does anyone have any clue what to expect from Sale and Kershaw the next time they pitch? I doubt even they know.

4. Kershaw headed for the showers after starting the fifth with a walk to Betts and a hard single by Benintendi, the Red Sox left fielder’s third hit of the night. Thirty-eight-year-old Ryan Madson relieved, walked Pearce on four pitches to load the bases, then suddenly found his stuff and struck out Martinez on three. That’s when perhaps the most subtly important play of the night occurred. Xander Bogaerts busted it down the line to beat out a potential inning-ending 5-4-3 double play. Instead, it was a fielder’s choice, and Betts crossed the plate to give the Red Sox a 4-3 lead. Devers followed with a hard single to score Benintendi and give the Red Sox a two-run advantage. Bogaerts’s hustle will not be among the first half-dozen memories to take away from this game, but its importance should not be overlooked.

5. Ryan Brasier was downright cruel to righthanded batters during the regular season, holding them to a .313 OPS (nope, not batting average . . . OPS) in 61 plate appearances. Lefthanded hitters fared better (.647 OPS in 63 PAs), though it’s not as if they all turned into peak Tony Gwynn against him. Brasier had been superb in the first two rounds of the postseason, having pitched seven scoreless innings through seven appearances, but there was speculation that the Dodgers, with their assortment of high-quality platoon bats, would try to load up on lefties against the slider-reliant Brasier. Lo and behold, that’s what Dodgers manager Dave Roberts did, going so far as to empty his bench in the seventh inning with Brasier in the game and the Sox leading, 5-3.

6. Almost worked, too. Brasier retired the first lefty pinch hitter, Joc Pederson. But Max Muncy (35 homers in 395 at-bats) followed with a single. Justin Turner, a righty, also singled. Roberts sent up Yasmani Grandal, who is having a miserable postseason, to hit for Freese, and he worked a walk to load the bases. Brasier gave up a sacrifice fly to Machado to cut the lead to 5-4, and that felt like a major victory. Rodriguez entered and retired another lefty, Clay Bellinger, on a pop to Jackie Bradley Jr. for the third out. Brasier allowed three baserunners — and his first run of the postseason — while recording just two outs. But at least he got a look at how the Dodgers plan to approach him.

7. It’s not a total shock to see Benintendi become the third player in Red Sox history to collect four hits in a World Series game, joining Jacoby Ellsbury (Game 3, 2007) and Wally Moses (Game 4, 1946). He’s an excellent hitter, even if he’s overdue for a home run or two. But it was a surprise to see him get all four hits against lefthanded pitchers. Benintendi slashed .247/.301/.393 against lefties in 164 plate appearances this year, and he’s just a .234 hitter against lefties in his career. But Tuesday, he managed singles off of Kershaw in the first, third, and fifth innings, then doubled off of Julio Urias in the seventh.

8. Cora said before Game 1 that chances were “slim’’ that Mookie Betts would see any significant time at second base in the series. The only better answer would have been that the chances are none. Never understood why Betts-to-second would be a consideration in the first place, beyond maybe giving him an inning or two there as part of a double-switch when the games move to Dodger Stadium. Betts played six innings at second base this year, has not played even close to regularly there since he played 14 games in place of an injured Dustin Pedroia as a rookie in 2014, may have to encounter accomplished knee-buster Machado on a bang-bang play at the bag, is the best defensive right fielder in baseball, and is so valuable that he’s probably going to receive a trophy when this season is done that acknowledges he was more valuable than anyone else in the American League. He used to be a second baseman, past tense. He’s a right fielder, and a brilliant one. Don’t mess with it.

9. Concerns? Gripes? Worries? I guess there could be a few, if you’re the nitpicky sort. Martinez rolled his ankle rounding second base on his RBI double in the second inning, then whiffed on three pitches in his next at-bat, which is not a J.D. Martinez thing to do. He stayed in the game, but it’s easy to wonder if it will affect him going forward, especially when he has to play the outfield in Dodger Stadium. Benintendi didn’t run hard on one of his singles, and might have reached second on Chris Taylor’s misplay had he been chugging out of the box. But I’m sure he heard about it and, well, he had four hits. What else? I guess Joe Kelly, who was electric in the sixth inning, could have stayed out there for another inning, sparing the Red Sox from using “rover’’ Nathan Eovaldi in the eighth. But that’s about it. It’s going to take some serious phony alarmism from your favorite sports radio caterwaulers to take issue with Victory No. 116.