Game 1 started out great for Boston. Tim Hudson controlled the game for 7 innings, giving up 4 hits and no runs. Meanwhile, Boston took a 2-run lead with some timely hitting and running. Jose Vidro scored from 1st on a double by Morgan Ensberg in the 3rd, and Carl Everett scored on a double by Vidro in the 5th. But, missed scoring chances and a key throwing error ended the game for Boston. In the 1st, Aubrey Huff was left stranded after hitting a 2-out double. In the 3rd, Huff stranded Ensberg on 2nd by striking out. Vidro was left on 2nd in the 5th, Raul Ibanez and Juan Uribe left Dustan Mohr and Victor Martinez on 1st and 2nd in the 6th, and Martinez, Mohr, and Ibanez all left Ensberg and Huff stranded on 1st and 2nd in the 8th. In all, Boston stranded 7 baserunners throughout the game. San Diego took advantage of Boston's lack of scoring to mount their own rally in the 8th. Cristian led off with a triple and then scored on a sacrifice fly by Omar Infante. Hudson then hit Jay Payton with a pitch, and, with 2 outs after Juan Pierre popped out to short, Morgan Ensberg made a wild throw attempting to get Payton at 2nd, and the ball went by Juan Uribe but he was backed up by Jose Vidro, which kept the runners at 1st and 2nd. Eric Chavez then doubled in Payton and Jason Kendall to give San Diego the 3-2 lead -- a lead that Brad Lidge preserved to pick up his 1st OBSL World Series save. Tim Hudson got the loss for Boston, and Damaso Marte picked up his 1st Series win. Game 2 is Sunday, October 23, at PETCO Park.

San Diego's pitching continues to "peak" at just the right times, while Boston's pitching has taken on the look of a horse way past its prime. The Padres jumped all over 31-years-old Russ Ortiz in the 1st inning. Ortiz gave up 4 earned runs on 3 hits and 2 walks and threw 31 pitches. Craig Wilson led off with a single and made his way to 2nd when Jason Kendall hit into a fielder's choice. Ortiz then walked Eric Chavez on 5 pitches, and Magglio Ordonez hit into a fielder's choice, forcing Chavez at 2nd. But, Travis Hafner tripled in Wilson and Ordonez to start the scoring, and, after a walk to Cristian Guzman, Omar Infante doubled in Hafner and Guzman to make the score 4-0. San Diego got to Ortiz one more time in the 2nd, as he allowed a single to Kirk Rueter and then loaded the bases with 2 consecutive walks to Chavez and Ordonez with 2 outs. Travis Hafner then beat out an infield single to score Jason Kendall and make the score 5-0. Ortiz was then pulled for Justin Duchscherer after just 1-2/3 innings. Meanwhile, 34-years-old Kirk Rueter pitched like much more of a "crafty lefty" than he really is. In the 1st, with Morgan Ensberg on 2nd and 1 out, Rueter induced flyball outs from both Victor Martinez and Dustan Mohr to end the threat. In the 2nd, Rueter got two key outs with runners on 1st and 2nd and only 1 out to end Boston's scoring threat again. In the 3rd and 4th innings, Boston again got runners in scoring position and again Rueter induced key outs to end any threat by the Red Sox. San Diego added three more runs in the 7th to make the score 8-0. But, they were not needed as Rueter allowed only 4 hits and a walk over the last 5 innings to seal his 1st complete game win in the World Series. Game 3 is Tuesday, October 25, at Fenway Park with San Diego up 2 games to none.

Sam Diego struck first again in this game. Magglio Ordonez hit a 3-run homerun in the 3rd inning to give Jerome Williams a good lead, a lead that Williams would not give up. Williams held Boston to 4 hits and a walk over the first 7 innings. In the 7th, he gave up an infield single to Aubrey Huff and then a 1-out double to Carl Everett. But, he got Victor Martinez and Juan Uribe to pop out harmlessly to end the scoring threat. However, in the 8th, Boston finally got to Williams. Jason Kendall mishandled a slow roller by Raul Ibanez, Williams walked Jose Vidro, and Morgan Ensberg singled to load the bases. Aubrey Huff then drove in Boston's first 2 runs with a hard single up the middle that swept Williams' legs out from under him. With Williams shaken up, Brad Lidge was brought in to pitch, and Boston got to him as well. Lidge got Mike Piazza to hit into an 8th inning double play to end any more scoring. But, in the 9th, Lidge walked Carl Everett to begin the inning. Cesar Crespo pinch-ran for Everett and, after an infield hit by Victor Martinez, was safe at 2nd on a throwing error by Eric Chavez, who overthrew Omar Infante trying to get the double play. Earl Snyder then came in to pinch-hit for Juan Uribe, and Snyder delivered with the game-tying single. Then Dustan Mohr popped out to 2nd for the first out, and Raul Ibanez was walked intentionally to get to Jose Vidro -- a curious move, since Vidro is a switch-hitter and was hitting close to .400 and Ibanez was only hitting .111 in the Series. In any event, it worked against San Diego, as Vidro singled in Martinez to give Boston a Game 3 win and close the gap to 2 games to 1 in San Diego's favor. Game 4 is Wednesday, October 26 at Fenway Park.

Tim Hudson again gave Boston a good pitching performance, only to see it squandered by their bullpen. Hudson pitched 5 innings and gave up 3 earned runs on 6 hits while striking out 2. his counterpart, Randy Wolf, gave up 2 earned runs 6 hits and 2 walks while striking out 2 in 4-2/3 innings. Boston got on the board first when Juan Uribe hit a sacrifice fly to score Victor Martinez in the 2nd inning. San Diego tied the game in the 3rd when Juan Pierre scored on a fielder's choice to 1st. Then, the Padres took the lead in the 4th when Omar Infante hit a 2-run single to score Carlos Pena and Craig Wilson. The Red Sox cut the lead to 3-2 in the 5th on a Mike Piazza single that scored Jose Vidro. But, with runners on 2nd and 3rd, Carl Everett struck out to end Boston's threat. Vidro scored again in the 7th on a sacrifice fly by Aubrey Huff and tied the game. But, in the 8th, Justin Duchscherer gave up a 2-run homerun to Craig Wilson and a run-scoring double to Omar Infante that put the Padres up for good, 6-3. Brad Lidge pitched a perfect 1-1/3 innings to earn his second save of the series. San Diego takes a 3 games to 1 lead into Fenway Park on October 27 for Game 5.

Boston's lack of run production proved to be their undoing, finally. The Red Sox left 8 runners stranded tonight as San Diego piled on the runs to take Game 5 and their first OBSL World Series title. Boston missed key chances in the early innings to keep pace with San Diego. Juan Uribe grounded out to 3rd with two on to end the 2nd inning. In the 3rd, with Jose Vidro on 2nd and 1 out, Morgan Ensberg popped out to shallow centerfield and Aubrey Huff grounded out to short to end another threat. And, Uribe again stopped their scoring threat in the 4th by grounding out to 3rd with runners on 1st and 2nd. Meanwhile, in the 5th, San Diego ended the scoreless contest with a solo shot by Carlos Pena and a single by Cristian Guzman that scored Omar Infante. In the 7th, San Diego increased its lead to 3-0 on a solo shot by Craig Wilson. But, later that inning, Boston climbed back into the game with a good rally. Dustan Mohr and Juan Uribe led off with singles, and consecutive singles by Jose Vidro, Morgan Ensberg, and Aubrey Huff tied the game for Boston. But, that would be as close as Boston got, as Magglio Ordonez hit a run-scoring single in the 8th, and in the 9th, Jay Payton hit a 2-run single, Juan Pierre singled in Cristian Guzman, and Payton scored on a double play grounder by Ordonez to put San Diego up 8-3 for good. Damaso Marte got his third World Series win, pitching the last 3 innings and giving up 1 run on 4 hits while striking out 3. Justin Duchscherer got his second loss for giving up Ordonez's 8th inning RBI single. Omar Infante was named World Series MVP -- he hit .412, had 7 hits including 3 doubles, scored twice, and knocked in 6 runs.