Pearce earns MVP honors after 3-HR World Series

8:03 pm | October 28, 2018 | Go to Source | Author:

11:57 PM ET

ESPN News Services

Steve Pearce is the 2018 World Series MVP.

The veteran slugger, acquired in late June from the Toronto Blue Jays, won the award Sunday night after his two-home run, three-RBI performance helped the Red Sox beat the Dodgers 5-1 in Game 5.

Pearce hit a two-run homer on Clayton Kershaw‘s sixth pitch. Solo homers by Mookie Betts in the sixth inning and J.D. Martinez in the seventh quieted the Dodger Stadium crowd, and Pearce added a solo drive off Pedro Baez in the eighth.

“We are a bunch of grinders,” Pearce said, “and this is exactly where we knew we were going to be.”

Pearce is the fifth Boston player with a multihomer game in the World Series in Red Sox history, and first since Rico Petrocelli in Game 6 in 1967.

The first baseman hit .333 in the Series (4-for-12) with three home runs, 8 RBIs, a .500 OBP and a 1.167 slugging percentage.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.