BOSTON STRONG -
THE ROAD TO REDEMPTION
 2013 WORLD SERIES,
GAME #3
The Cards win on an
obstruction call

October 26, 2013 ... It was all so jarring for the Red Sox, the way a terrific Game 3 of the World Series came to such an abrupt and unpredictable conclusion, not to mention a 5-4 loss.  Dustin Pedroia looked like he had just saved the game for the Red Sox and set his team up for the chance at extra innings when, with runners on second and third and one out in a tie game, he made a diving stop on a grounder by the Cardinals' Jon Jay and fired home, where Yadier Molina was tagged out by Jarrod Saltalamacchia. 

As Saltalamacchia is trained to do, he immediately surveyed the field after making the out and saw Allen Craig racing toward third. Saltalamacchia fired the ball to third, and that was when the wheels were set in motion for the zany finish. The throw wasn't a good one, and as it skipped away, third baseman Will Middlebrooks became tangled up with Craig.  Craig got out of the tangle and sprinted home, where it appeared he was going to be called out at home on a good throw by Daniel Nava. However, third-base umpire Jim Joyce called obstruction on Middlebrooks and the game was over.  Just like that, the Red Sox found themselves trailing the World Series 2-1, after taking Game 1 in blowout fashion.  A lot of things happened in Game 3, but it was ultimately decided on the obstruction call. 

According to rule 7.06, when obstruction occurs, an umpire should call or signal obstruction.

"If a play is being made on the obstructed runner, or if the batter-runner is obstructed before he touches first base, the ball is dead and all runners shall advance, without liability to be put out, to the bases they would have reached, in the umpire's judgment, if there had been no obstruction," states the rulebook. "The obstructed runner shall be awarded at least one base beyond the base he had last legally touched before the obstruction. Any preceding runners, forced to advance by the award of bases as the penalty for obstruction, shall advance without liability to be put out."

Rule 2.00 also offers up an explanation of the play involving Middlebrooks.

"If a fielder is about to receive a thrown ball and if the ball is in flight directly toward and near enough to the fielder so he must occupy his position to receive the ball he may be considered 'in the act of fielding a ball,'" says the rulebook. "It is entirely up to the judgment of the umpire as to whether a fielder is in the act of fielding a ball. After a fielder has made an attempt to field a ball and missed, he can no longer be in the 'act of fielding' the ball. For example: an infielder dives at a ground ball and the ball passes him and he continues to lie on the ground and delays the progress of the runner, he very likely has obstructed the runner."

It just seemed as if the perfect storm occurred for the play to unfold the way it did.

In the ninth, after the single by Molina, closer Koji Uehara came on for Boston. Craig ripped a double to left, putting runners on second and third with one out.  Then came the hard grounder that Pedroia snared, only to have all the chaos ensue after that.

Before the controversial end, this one was a compelling cliffhanger with several swings in momentum.  The Sox broke through in the fifth. Bogaerts drove a ball into the gap in right that split the outfielders and went for a triple. Saltalamacchia then walked. Stephen Drew struck out but pinch hitter Mike Carp, batting for the first time since Oct. 16, hit a slow roller to second base and a run scored on the fielder's choice at second.

The Red Sox trailed, 4-2, with just six outs left. But Jacoby Ellsbury jump-started an eighth-inning rally with a leadoff single against righty Carlos Martinez. Shane Victorino was plunked on a curveball, marking the seventh time he's been hit by a pitch in this postseason.  After Pedroia worked the count to 3-2, Farrell put the runners in motion. That wound up being big, as Pedroia hit a grounder to short and the runners moved to second and third with one out.  The dangerous David Ortiz was walked intentionally to load the bases and on came Rosenthal. Nava hit a grounder to second, and Carpenter could only get the force at second, as a run scored to make it a 4-3 game.  Up stepped 21-year-old Xander Bogaerts, and he was again unfazed with the game on the line, hitting a tapper that took a big bounce behind the second-base bag and off the glove of shortstop Pete Kozma for an infield single that tied the game.

The Cards had snapped a tie in the bottom of the seventh against Boston's setup tandem of Craig Breslow and Junichi Tazawa. Breslow, who also struggled in Game 2, started the frame by giving up an infield hit, a roller to short by Carpenter. Breslow then hit Carlos Beltran.  On came Tazawa in a tough situation, and Matt Holliday belted his third pitch down the line in left for a two-run double that gave the Cardinals a 4-2 lead.

After starter Jake Peavy (four innings, six hits, two earned runs) exited for a pinch-hitter, Felix Doubront did a nice job keeping the Sox in the game with two shutout innings.

Game 3 of the World Series ended in chaos for the Red Sox and a 5-4 loss against the St. Louis Cardinals that will go down in history for its controversy.  This one will make bitter Sox fans forget all about Ed Armbrister and interference from a 6-5 loss in Game 3 of the Series in Cincinnati in 1975.   The Sox have now lost back-to-back World Series games on throws from home plate to third.

A billboard near Busch Stadium reads, "The Beard Stops Here." St. Louis has won 13 of its last 14 postseason games at Busch Stadium.  Cardinals Hall of Famers Bob Gibson, Lou Brock, Ozzie Smith and Red Schoendienst took part in the first-ball festivities, with fan favorite Willie McGee tossing the pitch.  The family of late umpire Wally Bell was in the stands. Bell died at 48 this month, and the six-man crew is wearing patches to honor him. Bell’s first plate job in the World Series was at this ballpark in 2006.

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