World Series Game One Goes to the Red Sox

The 2013 World Series did not start well for the St. Louis Cardinals. Three errors and a poor start from Adam Wainwright paved the way for an 8-1 defeat at the hands of the Boston Red Sox on Wednesday night. As odd as it sounds, the game was nowhere near as close as the 8-1 score would indicate. As bad as things seemed for the Cardinals, they were really twice as bad and could be getting worse.

Oct 23, 2013; Boston, MA, USA; St. Louis Cardinals shortstop Pete Kozma (38) drops the ball for an error as Boston Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia (15) slides into second base during game one of the MLB baseball World Series at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Mark L. Baer-USA TODAY Sports

In the bottom of the first inning, the Red Sox were given a gift from short stop Pete Kozma. On a ground ball to second with the Cardinals laying the shift on David Ortiz, Kozma dropped what could have been the inning ending double play. Instead, Mike Napoli stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and promptly doubled to center, driving in all three runners and putting the Red Sox up by a score of 3-0. Little did anyone know at the time, but that error by Kozma opened the flood gates for what would end up being a game one beat down.

In the bottom of the second, the Red Sox got things going again. This time, Dustin Pedroia made it 4-0 with an RBI single with the bases loaded. David Ortiz then stepped to the plate looking to do some damage. Mission accomplished and then some.

On a 1-2 pitch from Adam Wainwright, Ortiz sent a fly ball deep to right field. Carlos Beltran clearly had a beat on the fly ball, but unfortunately didn’t have a beat on where he was in relation to the right field wall. Beltran made the running catch reaching over the wall to rob Ortiz of the would be grand slam, but collided with the wall at full speed. The runner from third scored easily to make it 5-0.

Replays would show that Beltran took the brunt of the blow directly to his chest and underneath his outstretched right arm. He would eventually come out of the game due to soreness in the area in question and depending on the severity of the injury may be forced into missing some time. If that’s the case, the Cardinals may be in more trouble than just being down 1-0 in the series.

Oct 23, 2013; Boston, MA, USA; St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Adam Wainwright (50) and catcher Yadier Molina react after a ball hit by Boston Red Sox shortstop Stephen Drew (not pictured) falls between them for an infield single in the second inning during game one of the MLB baseball World Series at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports

Meanwhile, David Ortiz would connect again in the bottom of the seventh inning off of Kevin Siegrist. Only this time he wouldn’t be robbed. Ortiz hit the first pitch he saw from the young lefty deep into the right field seats to put the Sox up 7-0 and completely put the game out of reach. They would add their eighth and final run of the game an inning later when talented young shortstop Xander Boegarts hit a sacrifice fly to left to score Daniel Nava.

As for the Cardinals’ offense, they were completely shut down by Boston starter, Jon Lester. Over the course of 7.2 innings of work, Lester limited the Cards to only five hits and a walk. Needless to say, they couldn’t get anything going and the few times they managed to get base runners Lester responded. He struck out eight Cardinals and eliminated many opportunities they had to score runs on his own. Junichi Tazawa and Ryan Dempster combined to finish off the final 1.2 innings of work with the Cardinals scoring their only run of the game in the ninth thanks to a Matt Holiday solo home run.

The Red Sox and Cardinals will come back for game two tomorrow night at Fenway Park. First pitch is scheduled for 8:07 pm. Michael Wacha will take the mound for the Cardinals, looking to even the series up at 1-1, while the Red Sox will counter with John Lackey.

Interesting side note. Game one’s victory by the Red Sox was their ninth straight World Series game victory. They swept the Cardinals in 2004 and the Rockies in 2007.

Source: