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victory that transformed him from a postseason flop to an October hero , Red Sox left-hander David Price said at the team’s victory parade Wednesday that he would stay in Boston rather than opt out of his contract and become a free agent.“I’m not going anywhere,” Price said on the field at Fenway Park before boarding a duck boat for the ride through the city. “I came here to win, and we did that this year. That was very special and I want to do it again.”Price will earn $127 million over the next four years, the remainder of a seven-year, $217 million contract he signed before the 2016 season that gave him the right to opt out after the third year. It remains the richest contract ever for a pitcher.“There wasn’t any reconsideration on my part, ever,” Price said.The 2012 AL Cy Young Award winner, Price has gone 31-19 with a 3.74 ERA in three seasons in Boston but until this year never had any success in the playoffs. He had never won a postseason start in his career — a 0-9 record in his first 10 tries — and was booed off the field after recording just five outs in the Division Series against the New York Yankees.But he was the winning pitcher in the AL Championship Series clincher against Houston, and then he won his first career World Series start, Game 2 against Los Angeles. He pitched in relief in Boston’s 18-inning Game 3 loss, then started on three day’s rest and delivered seven innings of three-hit ball in the finale to help eliminate the Dodgers.“We were hoping he would stay,” Red Sox president Sam Kennedy said. “He’s ready to go back-to-back.”In all , Price was 3-1 with a 3.46 ERA this postseason and 2-0 with a 1.98 ERA in two starts and one relief appearance against the Dodgers. The Boston Herald reported that Price lost a 3-2 vote to first baseman Steve Pearce for the World Series MVP.“In my mind, he was the co-MVP of the World Series,” Red Sox owner John Henry said Wednesday. “He was ready to pitch every day, no matter the situation. The bigger the game, the bigger the performance.”Henry called it “great news” that Price had opted in. Reminded that the ballclub itself, like Price, has had a bit of a turnaround after a long history of postseason failure, Henry said: “Boston is a great place to get the monkey off your back.”This is the fourth title in 15 years for the Red Sox, who went the previous 86 years without winning it all, and the 11th championship for the city since the New England Patriots won their first of five Super Bowls in February 2002. The Bruins and Celtics have also won one title apiece this century, celebrating with the increasingly routine parade of amphibious vehicles known as duck boats.Price, who shared a neon yellow ride with pitcher Nathan Eovaldi , was cheered through the city on a sunny day with temperatures in the mid-40s. In addition to the usual cheering and waving banners, the fans threw beers and small bottles of liquor to the players. CHICAGO — The Chicago Cubs had hoped to use the past four days to maintain or pad their lead in the National League Central, but the weather certainly didn’t cooperate.Heading into a pivotal three-game series against the second-place Milwaukee Brewers, the Cubs will attempt to again create some distance. The series opens a day after Chicago’s scheduled series finale against the Washington Nationals was washed out by rain, which was a constant throughout the weekend.The Cubs will attempt to bounce back after being swept in a Saturday doubleheader that was forced after Friday’s scheduled game was rained out as well.Article continues below ...“The bright side is just getting through (the weekend),” Cubs manager Joe Maddon told reporters Sunday, according to the Chicago Tribune. “We’ve done really well through this stretch. I’ve been really pleased with it and it’s not easy to do what we’ve been doing over the past couple of weeks and how well we’ve actually played.”Despite losing their past two games, the Cubs are 4-4 in their last eight games, which had allowed the Cubs to maintain their cushion over the Brewers. But the margin has been trimmed to two games after Milwaukee completed a three-game sweep of the San Francisco Giants on Sunday with a 6-3 victory.The Brewers will enter Monday’s series opener having won eight of their past 10 games and captured two of three from the Cubs last week. Now, with the Cubs within reach, the Brewers head to Chicago with the front-runners in their sights.“Something we’ve been talking about (is) ‘Don’t think about the wild card — think about the division,” said Brewers pitcher Jhoulys Chacin , who will take the mound Tuesday. “We have the chance this week. It feels really important now.”Jon Lester will take the mound as the Cubs attempt to get back on a winning track after the wet weekend in Washington.Lester (15-5, 3.53 ERA) has won three of his past four starts but hasn’t pitched since Sept. 2. Lester threw six scoreless innings in his last outing against the Philadelphia Phillies when he scattered six hits and struck out seven.Lester was scheduled to pitch Friday, but when the game was rained out, it allowed the Cubs ace to open the series against Milwaukee on Monday rather than pitch Wednesday’s series finale.Lester is 4-2 with a 2.40 ERA in seven career starts against the Brewers.Milwaukee will counter with Wade Miley (3-2, 2.12) as the Brewers attempt to continue to close the gap. Miley has won just won of his six previous starts but shut down the Cubs last week when he allowed just one earned run in six innings while allowing just three hits and striking out five. Miley is 5-2 with a 4.13 ERA in eight career starts against the Cubs.Miley has allowed three or fewer runs in each of his 12 starts with the Brewers and, like the rest of his teammates, believe that catching the Cubs and capturing the division title is well within reach.“Why wouldn’t it be? Heck, yeah,” Miley said after his last start, according to the Brewers’ official website. “I don’t think you quit thinking about it until you can’t think about it no more. I think that’s the way to go about it.”
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