BOSTON STRONG -
THE ROAD TO REDEMPTION
 2013 WORLD SERIES,
 GAME #1
The Sox overpower
the sloppy Cardinals

October 23, 2013 ... With the bright lights of the World Series shining down on them for the first time in six years, the Red Sox played with the type of clinical precision that has marked their season.  If this was a bigger stage, it was one the Red Sox clearly relished being on in an 8-1 victory over the Cardinals in Game 1 at an electric Fenway Park.

Behind a dominant performance by ace Jon Lester and an offense that kicked the door in when the Cards gave them extra opportunities, the Sox took control of the game early and never let go.

Lester held the Cardinals to five hits over his 7 2/3 shutout innings, walking one and striking out eight.   He was the first starter to hold the opponent scoreless in the opening game of the World Series since the Reds' Jose Rijo did so against the A's in 1990.

When David Ortiz launched a two-run homer to right in the bottom of the seventh, the rout was on at 7-0. The big slugger, the only Boston player to be on the club's past three World Series teams, had two hits, scored twice and drove in three.  Big Papi took in a curtain call after his 16th career postseason homer. Ortiz nearly had a grand slam earlier in the game, only to be robbed by Carlos Beltran.  An impressive part of Ortiz's homer was that it came on a 96-mph heater from Cards lefty Kevin Siegrist, who hadn't given up a long ball to a left-handed hitter all year.

Dustin Pedroia also had a two-hit night while scoring twice. Mike Napoli came up with a three-run double in the first, putting the Sox ahead for good. 

It was an action-packed bottom of the first against Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright. Jacoby Ellsbury started it with a walk. With one out, Pedroia lined a single to center.  Then came the controversy, as Ortiz hit a grounder to second that Matt Carpenter flipped to Pete Kozma for the force. Only Kozma dropped the ball. Second-base umpire Dana DeMuth initially called Pedroia out at second. Manager John Farrell went out to plead his case, and after the umpires huddled, they reversed the call, much to the delight of the Fenway faithful.

Mike Napoli capitalized on a big RBI opportunity by crushing a three-run double to the gap in left-center.

The Cardinals continued to unravel in the second. Stephen Drew hit a popup that Wainwright seemed to motion for initially.

 The ball fell right between Wainwright and catcher Yadier Molina for a single. David Ross followed with a single up the middle. With one out, there was more bad news for St. Louis, as Kozma muffed a grounder from Shane Victorino for his second error. Pedroia came up next and belted one through the hole between third and short for an RBI single.  The Red Sox continue to stand out with their opportunistic nature.

Even when the Cardinals made a great play on defense, they had misfortune. Ortiz hammered one to right in the first, and Beltran drifted back and literally snatched the ball out of the Cards' bullpen. Instead of a grand slam, it was a sacrifice fly to make it 5-0 in favor of Boston. The bad news for St. Louis was that Beltran exited the game with a bruised rib in the bottom of the third.

Xander Bogaerts tallied an RBI in his World Series debut, as the 21-year-old lifted a sacrifice fly in the eighth inning to close Boston's scoring.  Matt Holliday's homer off Ryan Dempster in the ninth foiled the Red Sox's attempt to become the first team to record a shutout in Game 1 of the World Series since Rijo's Reds in 1990.

For openers, the Red Sox couldn't have drawn it up any better. But they know there is a lot more to do.

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