McAdam: David Price sheds his previous reputation and shines on the big stage

LOS ANGELES -- In the span of a little over two weeks, David Price somehow managed to go from hapless in October to all-but-unhittable. The same pitcher who couldn't seem to win in the postseason became the guy who couldn't lose.

Maybe we should have seen this coming, what with the law of averages and all of that. Or maybe it was in the cards after Price was the starting and winning pitcher in the Red Sox first win of the regular season, the 100th win of the season and, then, the pennant clincher in Houston earlier this month.

Still, Price's transformation from October zero to hero was almost breathtaking. He started Game 2 of the World Series and allowed two runs on three hits over six innings. And Sunday night, he completed his transformation with a stunning performance that saw him go seven innings plus a batter, allowing just one run on three hits.

The same guy -- give or take -- who had a career postseason ERA of 5.42 as recently as the middle of this month, then made four appearances, beginning with Game 5 of the ALCS, in which he went 3-0 (with a relief appearance tossed in) for an ERA of 1.37.

Put another way: Price won half of the Red Sox four World Series victories.

Raise your hand if you expected that kind of reversal.

"I'm very proud of him,'' said manager Alex Cora after the Red Sox finished off the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-1 in Game 5 to win the 2018 World Series. "There's a lot of people that gave up on him throughout the season. A lot of people that gave up on him after his outing against New York (in the ALDS). But we knew that he's one of the best pitchers in the big leagues and he cares. He wants to win and finally, he has his World Series win.''

If the fans and the media wavered, those inside the organization never did. His teammates rooted for him, defended him and praised his selflessness.

"He's the first one in the clubhouse and most of the time, he was the last one in the clubhouse,'' Cora said. "He just wanted to complete. And you could see tonight, he was locked in. He's been locked in for a while. That was his best outing of the season.''

Price wasn't above showing his humanity, either. When he was asked in his postgame press conference what it meant to hear that his teammates regarded him as a good teammate, Price was nearly overcome with emotion and he needed a bit of time to compose himself.

But Price didn't hesitate for a second when he was asked what he had proven in the last few weeks.

"I can win a big game,'' he said with a hint of defiance. "To be able to come out on top and be able to contribute in October, that's what I play this game.''

Price couldn't help himself from taking a few jabs at the media. He again recounted how weary he had become in answering questions about his futility in the postseason.

"I hold all the cards now,'' he said. "And that feels so good. I can't tell you how good it feels to hold that trump card. You guys have had it for a long time. You've played that card extremely well. But you don't have it anymore, none of you. And that feels really good.''

In that moment, you began to understand just how burdensome the talk of his playoff failures had become for Price. When he signed with the Red Sox, he confronted the issue head-on in his introductory press conference, artfully suggesting that he had been "saving up" his postseason success until he got to Boston.

Then, reality bit. He flamed out in Cleveland in 2016 and felt the need to interrupt a postgame interview session with reporters to point out that it wasn't accurate to say that he had never won in the postseason -- only that he had never won as a starter. It was the first glimpse of how defensive he was on the topic, and how much it consumed him.

But Price claimed some vindication when he won Game 5 in Houston to win the pennant, and ever since, has become a different pitcher.

Sunday night began inauspiciously when his very first pitch was hammered to the opposite field by David Freese, clearing the fence and cutting the Red Sox 2-0 lead in half. But after that, Price was very nearly flawless.

He erased a follow-up walk with a double play, and from then until the end of the seventh, just two Dodgers reached base against him: Yasiel Puig got on when a blooper fell in front of Andrew Benintendi, and Freese in the third when J.D. Martinez lost a routine fly ball either in the dusky sky or the lights or both, for a gift triple.

So confident was Cora in him that he allowed him to bat in the top of the seventh.

Price, too, maintained that he never lost confidence in himself.

"My confidence was never altered,'' he insisted. "I always had belief in myself and my abilities. To be able to come through on this stage and in October for myself and my teammates, I know I can do it now. And it's a good feeling to have. It's just good to know.''

The most maligned pitcher in recent Red Sox history is free now -- free from his failures, having shed his past.