Bedard: David Price nearly exorcises all his playoff demons

One more out and it all would have been over.

One more out in the fifth inning of the Red Sox' eventual 7-5 victory over the Astros in Game 2 to even the American League Championship Series 1-1 and the monkey would have been off his back.

Well, considering it marked the first time in any of David Price's 11 career postseason starts that his team ended up winning ... something was definitely accomplished.

"We won," a content Price said after the game. "That's my first team win as a starter. So if it's baby steps, it's baby steps. I expect to win. But I'm very happy that we won."

This will be known as the "almost" game for Price.

After walking two with one out in the first — after his teammates staked him to a 2-0 lead — and getting the natives nervous, Price came back to register back-to-back strikeouts of Yuli Gurriel and Tyler White to finish the first and get Fenway rocking.

But in both the second and third innings, Price had two outs but couldn't close the door. George Springer hit a fisted double down the right-field line on an inside fastball to drive in two runs and tie the game in the second.

In the third, Marwin Gonzalez took a high-and-tight fastball as Price got wild in the top of the zone and put it over The Wall to give Houston a 4-2 lead. Again, it came with two outs.

"The pitch to Marwin was actually way off the plate inside. Probably was looking for it (up and in)," said Alex Cora. "But (the) two-out hits in the beginning ... the one by George, nothing we could do. Everything started with Carlos (Correa) hustling down the line (on a slow throw by Xander Bogaerts). So we gotta clean a few things up. But overall his stuff was good. Command was good and he gave us a chance to win."

Probably the most promising part of Price's start was the fourth inning. The Red Sox had just taken a 5-4 lead in the bottom of the third on Jackie Bradley's three-run double. Price only needed 10 pitches to close the door on the Astros.

"That was big," Price said. "Going back to the second inning when I had an opportunity to have a shut-down inning and wasn't able to do that, giving up the two-out double to Springer, that stung. But to be able to go out there in that fourth and to have a clean inning, that was good for myself and good for our team."

If Price would have completed the fifth inning, he would have been the pitcher of record. Two groundouts around a walk to Alex Bregman put Price on the precipice, but a four-pitch walk to White, and Gonzalez coming up, forced Cora into lifting Price. As Cora approached the mound to insert Matt Barnes, Price, with his glove over his mouth, had an animated discussion with catcher Christian Vazquez. Price was probably screaming at himself for not finishing strong and getting the monkey off his back.

"Just talking," Price said when asked about the exchanged. "Put my glove up for a reason so you guys couldn't see it. I'll keep it between us."

Said Cora: "(The decision) at that point it was (about) Marwin. He put a good swing on (Price). The last at-bat, actually the previous pitch (before the home run) he put a good swing and he fouled it off. So we felt that that was a matchup that it was positive for us. So we went with Barnesy.

"Coming in, (Price) felt very confident. He was ready to go. And, like I said, I mean, today was four and whatever (innings), but he's throwing the ball well against them the last two years. ... He gave his team a chance to win."

Price might not have gotten his first personal postseason win, but putting his team on a path to victory and the rousing ovation he received from the Fenway Faithful ... well, it may sound corny, but that was enough to make Price feel like he won something.

"It does," Price said. "You can ask any of my teammates, for the 10 years I've been in the Big Leagues or coaches or anybody that's been around me — all I want to do is win. I expect myself to be great in big moments, and I haven't done that thus far in my career. But I came here to win, period. I came here to win a World Series and to do it multiple times. And that's what I'm about.

"I put myself aside. This isn't about me. I understand the narratives. I get that. I deserve those narratives. But this is bigger than David Price. This isn't about me. This is about the Boston Red Sox."

His teammates were appreciative of Price's effort, which was officially 4.2 innings pitched, five hits, four earned runs, four walks and four strikeouts with 80 pitches (50 strikes).

"He pitched a great game," said Mookie Betts. "I think no matter what you say about him, he's a great pitcher. He goes out and takes a ball every time. He's a competitor, for sure. He has that dominant presence on the mound. And he showed it today."