BOSTON — It appeared the Red Sox had done it again. They had bested another top pitcher, and David Ortiz had saved the day. But it was Boston this time, in Game 2 of the World Series, and not the St. Louis Cardinals, that made a game-turning mental mistake. The Cardinals went on to win, 4-2, to even the series at 1-1.
It was a sloppy game, but not devoid of drama. Michael Wacha and John Lackey were locked in a pitcher's duel, matching each other inning for inning, until Matt Holliday hit a high fly ball off the center-field wall to start the fourth inning. Fenway Park's quirks worked against the Red Sox this time. The ball hit the wall and shot sideways, away from Jacoby Ellsbury, who was charging the wall. Holliday ended up with a triple and eventually scored on a groundout by Yadier Molina.
Wacha, meanwhile, was almost unhittable. But as his pitch count swelled, the Red Sox finally got to him in the sixth. After Dustin Pedroia drew a walk, Ortiz flipped one of Wacha's changeups for a two-run homer over the Green Monster.
Lackey, too, was rolling until he issued a one-out walk to David Freese and allowed Jon Jay to single in the seventh. He was replaced by Craig Breslow, who then walked Daniel Descalso to load the bases.
The next batter, Matt Carpenter, hit a sacrifice fly to left field, which caused all sorts of problems for the Red Sox. Freese scored from third, and as Jonny Gomes's throw home trickled away, Breslow picked up the ball and fired high and wild to third.
Breslow's throw ended up in the stands, so Jay scored, too. Then Carlos Beltran, who was playing despite bruising his ribs in Game 1, singled in Descalso.
After 9 wins in a row, Red Sox lose first WS game since Game 7, 1986.
— David Waldstein (@DavidWaldstein) 25 Oct 13
Top 9th — 11:01 P.M. Ortiz and Red Sox Running Out of Time
Ortiz in the World Series: 4-for-6, two home runs, five runs batted in. But he might not have done enough tonight. On to the ninth. Sox trail, 4-2.
8th — 10:55 P.M. James Taylor Back in the Seventh
Nice moment in the seventh inning. James Taylor and a few Boston Marathon bombing victims gather in the outfield to sing "America the Beautiful." Taylor had started to sing "America the Beautiful" before the game, when he was supposed to sing the national anthem. He caught himself quickly, but not quickly enough. His rendition was great in the seventh, too.
Top 7th — 10:26 P.M. Cardinals Take Back Lead, Up 4-2
A one-out walk to Freese led to a three-run seventh inning for the Cardinals, and they're not done yet.
Craig Breslow, who went to Yale and is considered among the smartest players in baseball, just made a horrible mistake. Let's dissect the play. The bases were loaded with one out and Matt Carpenter at the plate. Carpenter lifted a sacrifice fly to Gomes in left field, but Gomes's throw was off and Breslow, who was backing up home plate, picked it up. Instead of holding onto the ball, he threw to third base to try to get the runner, Jon Jay, but his throw was wild and high and it ended up in the stands.
Another run scored and the next batter, Beltran, singled in another. Cardinals lead, 4-2.
Top 7th — 10:11 P.M. Wacha's Night Likely Over
Wacha is at 114 pitches through six innings. That's the most he's ever thrown in the majors. It would appear his night is done.
He appeared to have made only two mistakes: the fastball Pedroia ripped for a double and the changeup Ortiz flipped for a two run home run.
Bot 6th — 10:01 P.M. Red Sox Finally Get to Wacha
The crowd at Fenway is chanting, "Papi! Papi! Papi!" Ortiz hits his fifth homer of the postseason, an opposite field shot that barely cleared the Green Monster, landing in the first row of seats up there. Wacha had been unhittable. Now the Cardinals trail, 2-1.
Top 5th — 9:28 P.M. Wacha Works Out of Trouble
I'm no major league hitter, but I'm sure Wacha's fastball looks a lot more appetizing at 93 m.p.h. instead of 95. Pedroia smoked a 93 m.p.h. one, on a 3-1 count, off the Green Monster for a double. Then Wacha walked Ortiz on five pitches.
But he got Napoli to ground into a 6-4-3 double play, which was turned seamlessly with Daniel Descalso at shortstop, and Gomes popped up to end the inning.
Top 4th — 9:14 P.M. Cardinals Strike First, Lead 1-0
That fly ball off the bat of Holliday just took, what some may call, a wicked bounce. Fenway's quirks were supposed to play against the Cardinals, not in their favor. If you're not near a TV, Holliday ripped a chest-high fastball to center field. The ball hit and ricocheted off the wall and shot sideways, as Ellsbury charged the wall.
Holliday ends up with a triple, and eventually scores as Molina hits a high chopper over Lackey to Pedroia. Lackey jumped at the ball, and if he had gotten to it, Holliday might have been out at home, but Lackey was not tall enough. Cardinals lead, 1-0.
Top 4th — 9:07 P.M. Red Sox Finally Get a Hit
Wacha's no-hitter is broken up on his 51st pitch, which ended in a broken bat blooper for Ellsbury. Then Victorino stranded him. Wacha's at 53 pitches after three innings. If the Red Sox can get him out after six innings, that would be a moral victory.
Grab a refreshment and sit back. Still scoreless here at Fenway.
Mid 3rd — 9:00 P.M. Lackey Sharp Through 3
Lackey is on tonight. Has four strikeouts — one on his four-seam fastball, one on his curveball, and two that came in that third inning on his cutter.
Top 3rd — 8:53 P.M. Wacha's Pitch Count Rising, Still Scoreless
In his first time through the heart of the Boston order, Wacha walks Napoli but retires Ortiz, Gomes and Saltalamacchia — the "heavy hitters," so to speak. It's very early — repeat: very early — but he has a no-hitter going through two innings.
Also: he's at 38 pitches.
World Series, Fenway: It's the third inning, no score, so we're leaving to beat the traffic. http://t.co/yBTDrdwT2S
— Dan Barry (@DanBarryNYT) 25 Oct 13
Mid 2nd — 8:37 P.M. Lackey Thriving This Postseason
Last time we saw Lackey, he was out-dueling Justin Verlander in Game 3 of the A.L.C.S., throwing six and two-thirds innings of shutout baseball. If he could outwit Wacha, too, what a postseason that would be for Lackey, in this his first season back from Tommy John surgery. He's worked around two singles but been fine thus far.
I think the general opinion among Red Sox fans is if they can beat Wacha, then Boston might sweep. They like their chances against the Cardinals' other starters.
Top 2nd — 8:26 P.M. Wacha Pitches a Scoreless First
Watch Wacha's pitch count tonight. The most he's thrown in the majors is 112, which he matched two weeks ago against the Dodgers in the N.L.C.S. He's a rookie, so the Cardinals will be careful with him. He's at 17 pitches after that clean first inning. The Red Sox want nothing to do with his fastball-changeup combo. Here's some fun with numbers: Wacha just lowered his postseason E.R.A. from 0.43 to 0.41.
Wait, wait — what IS that in Michael Wacha's glove? Oh, it's his finger
— Zach Schonbrun (@zschonbrun) 25 Oct 13
Mid 1st — 8:16 P.M. Beltran Singles, but That's It for Cardinals
Beltran, in his first at-bat since bruising his ribs, singled to left field, as Gomes sort of belly-flopped diving for the ball. John Mozeliak, the Cardinals general manager, said before the game that swinging the bat would probably be most challenging for Beltran, but he looked fine there, for at least one at bat, slashing a single to left.
Beltran singles to left in first at-bat, after a check swing that could not have felt good
— Zach Schonbrun (@zschonbrun) 25 Oct 13
8:06 P.M. Pregame Festivities Impress Once Again
The pregame festivities again were superb for Game 2. They started with Mariano Rivera being recognized for winning the Commissioner's Historic Achievement Award, as "Enter Sandman" echoed throughout Fenway.
Then James Taylor sang a beautiful national anthem (in my opinion), and the Red Sox honored their 2004 championship team and brought out a few familiar faces.
On Rivera's award, here's a list of past winners: Ken Griffey Jr., Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Roberto Clemente, Tony Gwynn, Rickey Henderson, Mark McGwire, Cal Ripken Jr., Sammy Sosa, Ichiro Suzuki and Rachel Robinson.
7:15 P.M. Lester's Game 1 Gem Comes Under Scrutiny
Although it looked as if Cardinals shortstop Pete Kozma was the one with Vaseline on his glove in Game 1 of the World Series, one Cardinals minor leaguer wondered if Jon Lester was loading up with a foreign substance Wednesday night to make his pitches more effective.
Lester sure looked good in Boston's 8-1 victory, tossing seven and two-thirds shutout innings and striking out eight. But soon after the game, Tyler Melling, a Class A pitcher for the Cardinals' Florida State League team, posted a screen shot on his Twitter account that showed discoloration on Lester's black glove where the webbing meets the thumb. The tweet has since been deleted.
It is against the rules for pitchers to put any substances on the ball.
Along with the screen shot, Melling wrote, "Jon Lester using a little Vaseline inside the glove tonight?"
Then HardballTalk at NBCsports.com added an intriguing video link, which shows Lester making a two-finger gesture to the same area of his glove before gripping the ball before a pitch, as if to get something on his fingers.
In a statement Thursday, Major League Baseball said: "We cannot draw any conclusions from this video. There were no complaints from the Cardinals, and the umpires never detected anything indicating a foreign substance throughout the game." Read more.
Pedro Martinez, in full Pedro form: "It's not about what Lester had in his glove. It's about how bad St. Louis played" #RedSox
— Zach Schonbrun (@zschonbrun) 24 Oct 13
— David Waldstein
7:06 P.M. Tonight's Starting Lineups
Carlos Beltran is in the Cardinals' lineup, having exited Game 1 in the second inning with bruised ribs. The rest of the St. Louis order is jumbled, though. Pete Kozma, who made two costly errors in Game 1, was replaced by Daniel Descalso. Jon Jay replaced Shane Robinson in center field. And both David Freese and Allen Craig, who played Wednesday for the first time since September 4, were dropped in the order.
For the Red Sox, as expected, Jarrod Saltalamacchia returned to the starting lineup.
St. Louis Cardinals
1) Matt Carpenter, 2B
2) Carlos Beltran, RF
3) Matt Holliday, LF
4) Matt Adams, 1B
5) Yadier Molina, C
6) Allen Craig, DH
7) David Freese, 3B
8) Jon Jay, CF
9) Daniel Descalso, SS
Pitching: Michael Wacha, RHP
Boston Red Sox
1) Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
2) Shane Victorino, RF
3) Dustin Pedroia, 2B
4) David Ortiz, DH
5) Mike Napoli, 1B
6) Jonny Gomes, LF
7) Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C
8) Stephen Drew, SS
9) Xander Bogaerts, 3B
Pitching: John Lackey, RHP
7:04 P.M. Cardinals Turn to Wacha in Game 2
BOSTON — The World Series could not have started any worse for the St. Louis Cardinals. They committed three errors. Adam Wainwright, their ace, was shelled. Carlos Beltran, their star, left clutching his bruised ribs, his status now uncertain.
And yet, the Cardinals have hope.
Michael Wacha, their electric rookie, takes the mound in Game 2 opposite Red Sox starter John Lackey. Wacha steamrolled the feel-good Pittsburgh Pirates and outdueled Clayton Kershaw, who will probably win the National League Cy Young Award.
Wacha has allowed one run in 21 innings over three postseason starts. But the Red Sox are rolling, having gotten past the Detroit Tigers' talented staff and now Wainwright.
"This lineup that Boston has — it's a good lineup, a lot of power, a lot of speed," Wacha said Wednesday. "They battle up at the plate. You just have to make effective pitches and just attack them, don't give them free base runners, and just attack the zone and make effective pitches against them."
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