The Boston Red Sox are on their way back home with their fourth World

Series title since 2004.Boston captured its ninth championship in franchise history with a dominant performance in Game 5 at Dodger Stadium that was led by a few unexpected heroes.Steve Pearce http://www.angelsfanproshop.com/authentic-yunel-escobar-jersey , who participated in only the second postseason of his 12-year career, took home the Most Valuable Player award for the clutch hits he delivered throughout the series, including a pair of home runs in Game 5.David Price emerged as the other unlikely hero for the Red Sox, as he won Games 2 and 5 to erase the narrative about his postseason struggles.While Price and Pearce were the standout stars, other players made plenty of key contributions throughout the World Series to help Boston capture the title in dominant fashion. Top StarsSteve PearceToronto's trade of Pearce to the Red Sox in June (for a minor league infielder) will go down as the best piece of business from the summer.Pearce displayed glimpses of his power throughout his 50 regular-season appearances for the Red Sox, as he hit seven home runs and drove in 26 runs.At most, the first baseman was expected to provide cover for Mitch Moreland and come up with a clutch hit or two during the postseason.Pearce blew everyone away with a home run and four RBI in Game 4 and two more dingers in the series-clinching Game 5 victory.With his pair of round-trippers in Game 5, Pearce became the second Boston player to ever hit three home runs in the World Series, per The Athletic's Katie Sharp:Katie Sharp ktsharpRed Sox players to hit 3 HR in a single World Series:Steve Pearce (2018)Carl Yastrzemski (1967) David PriceThroughout his postseason career, Price showed flashes of brilliance, but he was far from Boston's go-to guy in the starting rotation entering the World Series.In two World Series starts, Price gave up six hits and three earned runs over 13 innings, and he made a brief appearance in the 18-inning marathon in Game 3.Before the World Series, Price had one victory in 12 playoff starts, with the win coming against Houston in Game 6 of the ALCS.If Pearce hadn't hit two home runs in Game 5, Price would've been named MVP for his pair of marvelous performances against a Dodgers lineup that had no answers for him.Top StatsBoston's ninth World Series victory was the first for manager Alex Cora Martin Maldonado Jersey , who became the first rookie manager since the Arizona Diamondbacks' Bob Brenly in 2001 to win the World Series, per MLB Stat of the Day:MLB Stat of the Day MLBStatoftheDayIn his first year as manager, ac13alex is a #WorldSeries champion.The last rookie manager to accomplish the feat was Bob Brenly with the 2001 Dbacks. ZivaOOp1LQPearce joined an illustrious list of 10 players, including Babe Ruth, Reggie Jackson and Johnny Bench, as players to hit two or more home runs in a series-clinching World Series game, per Sharp:Katie Sharp ktsharp2+ HR in Potential Clinching World Series Game:Steve Pearce2018Kirk Gibson1984Eddie Murray1983Reggie Jackson1977Johnny Bench1976Yogi Berra1956Duke Snider1952Tony Lazzeri1932Babe Ruth1928Harry Hooper1915Price won the clinching games of back-to-back series against Cy Young Award winners, which was the first time that's ever occurred, per ESPN's Buster Olney:Buster Olney Buster_ESPNELIAS: If the Red Sox win, David Price will have clinched two consecutive series against Cy Young winners 鈥?Justin Verlander and Clayton Kershaw 鈥?in the same postseason. Thats never been done before.Chris Sale, who came on to close Game 5 in the ninth for Boston, became the ninth pitcher and first since 1945 to record the first and last outs of the World Series, per Baseball Reference:Baseball Reference baseball_refPitchers who got the first and last out of the #worldseries:Babe Adams, 1909Ernie Shore, 1916Art Nehf, 1922Waite Hoyt http://www.angelsfanproshop.com/authentic-j.-c.-ramirez-jersey , 1928Lefty Gomez, 1937Paul Derringer, 1940Spud Chandler, 1943Hal Newhouser, 1945And Chris Sale, 2018Boston finished the season with 119 wins, which is the third-most in MLB history behind the 1998 New York Yankees and 2001 Seattle Mariners, per the league's official Twitter account:MLB MLB119 wins. Thats a lot of #DirtyWater. QGFeZPlUirHighlightsMookie Betts produced an insurance run in the sixth inning for the Red Sox, as he took Clayton Kershaw deep:FOX Sports FOXSportsMOOOOOOKIE!The MVP candidate comes through for the RedSox with a solo shot in Game 5! IbrXC3bYTAJ.D. Martinez extended the Boston lead to three runs in the seventh inning, when he sent a solo blast to center off Kershaw:FOX Sports FOXSportsRed Sox are doing damage!J.D. Martinez homers to center to give Boston a 3-run lead in the 7th! zvtfrsej2NSale recorded the final out of the 2018 World Series by striking out Manny Machado, who had a disappointing series for the Dodgers:FOX Sports FOXSportsTHE BOSTON RED SOX ARE WORLD CHAMPIONS!!!Chris Sale strikes out Manny Machado to close out the World Series! u62k4SVQPvFOX Sports FOXSportsYup, the RedSox went there.馃憖 the song selection T0l7aC4c4eDuring the postgame celebration in the locker room, the Red Sox trolled the rival New York Yankees by singing "New York, New York": Follow Joe on Twitter, JTansey90. Dustin Bradford/Getty ImagesThe latest Bryce Harper news is, once again Darin Erstad Jersey , no news.Jon Heyman of MLB Network reported Sunday that Harper's representatives plan to meet with more teams in Las Vegas after the Philadelphia Phillies. The Phillies have seemingly been the front-runner to land the free-agent sluggerfor much of the process. However, it's unclear what level of progress the two sides have made, and based on Heyman's report, there seem to benumerous other interested suitors.Manny Machado signed a 10-year, $300 million contract with the San Diego Padres last week, ending one of the two major sagas of the winter. That leaves Harper as the main domino to fall, and his contract will almost certainly eclipse Machado's to become the biggest free-agent deal in North American sports history.Phillies owner John Middleton met with Harper and agent Scott Boras on Friday and Saturday but was not able to complete a deal. Middleton promised major spending this offseason after slowly trimming the team's books of salary and building a promising young core."We're going into this expecting to spend money nd maybe even be a little stupid about it," Middleton toldBob NightengaleofUSA Todayin November. "We just prefer not to be completely stupid."Harper, 26, hit .249/.393/.496 with 34 home runs and 100 runs batted in last season, earning his fourth straight All-Star appearance. He has posted a WAR of3.0 or better in six of his seven seasons, perFanGraphs. While he has yet to reach the heights of his 2015 NL MVP campaign again, Harper is a foundational middle-of-the-lineup power bat and one of MLB's biggest stars.Should their plan work out, the Phillies could be in a position to sign Harper now and then add Mike Trout in a few years, giving them the most marketable team in recent baseball history.