Both aces chased out early in opener

Aces were out BOSTON — early in the first game of the World Series, where four-plus innings for starters is becoming the new norm.

The outings of the Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw and Boston’s Chris Sale turned into short stories. Each failed to get an out in the fifth inning Tuesday night, just the fourth time both starting pitchers were chased that early in a Series opener and the first since 2004 — also at Fenway Park.

They were long gone by the time Boston won 8-4 in what became a predictable postseason battle of bullpens.

“I say it all the time, and I say it to my son, I’ve never seen an ugly win,” Sale explained in a packed Boston clubhouse. “Obviously the stat line isn’t the prettiest thing. It’s not exactly how you draw it up or dream about it, but we got a win, so I’m good to go.”

For a century, aces were baseball’s studs, grabbing the mound for Game 1 as if by birthright and not letting go easily. Think Bob Gibson 50 years ago, pitching a five-hit shutout for St. Louis against Detroit with 17 strikeouts and one walk.

But no pitcher has thrown a complete game in the opener since Philadelphia’s Cliff Lee beat the New York Yankees in 2009. The last complete-game shutout in Game 1 was thrown by Oakland’s Dave Stewart against San Francisco in 1989, part of a tradition of opening gems that included complete-game shutouts for Boston by Luis Tiant in 1975 and Babe Ruth in 1918.

Complete-game shutouts have gone the way of flannel uniforms and spittoons, the sport transforming at its most rapid pace since the live-ball era began nearly a century ago.

The first meeting of seven-time All-Stars in a World Series opener was far from a pitcher’s duel. Sale lasted 91 pitches and Kershaw 79. Boston used six relievers and the Dodgers four.