If there’s one thing to take away from the first two games of the World Series, it’s that momentum in this sport means about as much as an Alex Rodriquez steroid apology.
One night after looking sloppy and disinterested, the St. Louis Cardinals bounced back with an important 4-2 win to even the series at 1-1 against the Boston Red Sox.
The Sox followed their winning formula to a tee, grinding down rookie starter Michael Wacha to 100+ pitches in just six innings, and even got a clutch go-ahead home-run from David Ortiz in the sixth.
However, timely hitting by the Cards combined with some sloppy Sox defense allowed the redbirds to regain a lead in the seventh they wouldn’t relinquish.
St. Louis:
Despite a terribly played game-one in which they were pretty much out of it in the first inning, the Cardinals leave Boston having done exactly what they needed to do with a split.
They now have home-field advantage with three of the next five in St. Louis, and they snapped the Sox nine-game World Series winning streak.
The Cardinals can also leave Fenway Park with an even greater confidence in Wacha. Despite his success during the season and in the playoffs prior, anytime a rookie makes his first start in a World Series game there’s going to be some apprehension.
Wacha exited the game after just six and having surrendered the lead, however he provided stabilization after a disastrous Adam Wainwright start in game-one.
The rookie impressively navigated through a tough Sox line-up, highlighted by his pitching in the fourth inning. In the fourth Dustin Pedroia lead-off with a double, followed by an Ortiz walk, leaving men on first and second. Wacha induced a ground-ball double-play off the bat of Mike Napoli, then struck-out Jonny Gomes to end the threat.
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Finally, St. Louis has to feel good about their bullpen. Carlos Martinez rewarded Mike Matheny’s faith in him when the skipper allowed the rookie to face David Ortiz (who represented the tying-run) with lefty Randy Choate waiting in the bullpen.
Ortiz picked up a weak shift-induced infield single, but Martinez got the next-hitter Napoli to pop-up to short before Trevor Rosenthal closed-out the game by dominantly striking-out the side in the ninth.
Boston:
Obviously you want to take both home-games to start the series, but a split is nothing to be panicky about if you’re the Sox.
The RedSox got two great pitching performances from Jon Lester and John Lackey, but if there were one thing for a Sox fan to be nervous about, it would be the Cardinals bullpen.
Boston was completely dominated by Detroit’s starting pitching in the ALCS, and won solely on their ability to feast on a bad Tiger bullpen.
With the Martinez-Rosenthal duo closing out the final three innings for St. Louis, it’s going to be difficult for the Sox to piece together runs late in games.
Also not be over-looked is the effect of not having a DH in these next three games. Boston has definitively stated that there is no way Napoli will catch, and with Ortiz hot right now, you have to figure he’ll be starting at first.
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Napoli, a gold-glove candidate this year, picked several balls out of the dirt last night alone, something you can’t count on Ortiz to do. You cannot discount the importance of a good defensive first baseman.
Also in a close game late, John Farrell will have to decide whether to take Ortiz out for defensive purposes, thus taking his bat out of the lineup.
Next three games:
The game three pitching match-up of Jake Peavy and Joe Kelly is a complete toss-up. Neither have been impressive this post-season, and both managers won’t hesitate to make a move at any sign of early trouble.
This game will come down to who can put-up the most runs before the seventh when both teams can send out quality relievers.
Clay Buchholz takes the mound in game-four in what will probably be his final appearance of the year. If healthy, Buchholz can dominate a game as well as anyone, however that’s been a big if this year. Wainwright will most likely oppose him on short-rest, which after his game-one debacle shouldn’t exactly make the Cardinals exude confidence.
Game-five starters have yet to be announced, but you can at least count on Lester starting for the Sox.
Prediction:
St. Louis takes two of three and heads back to Fenway up 3-2. The combination of losing Napoli’s bat, and dealing with Ortiz’s defense will cost the Sox on the road. Look for Wainwright to regain his dominant form.
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