Red Sox thump Cardinals to win World Series

There hasn't been a party like this in New England for nearly a century.

Turmoil to triumph. Worst to first.

David Ortiz and the Boston Red Sox, baseball's bearded wonders, capped their remarkable turnaround by beating the St. Louis Cardinals 6-1 in Game 6 on Wednesday night to win their third World Series championship in 10 seasons.

Boston Red Sox's David Ortiz carries relief pitcher Koji Uehara after winning Game 6 of baseball's World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals Wednesday in Boston. The Red Sox won 6-1 to win the series. (David J. Phillip/Associated Press)

"We've dealt with a lot. But our team came together, and we stuck by each other," Dustin Pedroia said. "What a great feeling."

Shane Victorino, symbolic of these resilient Sox, returned from a stiff back and got Boston rolling with a three-run double off the Green Monster against rookie sensation Michael Wacha.

John Lackey became the first pitcher to start and win a Series clincher for two different teams, allowing one run over 6 2-3 innings 11 years after his Game 7 victory as an Angels rookie in 2002.

With fans roaring on every pitch and cameras flashing, Koji Uehara struck out Matt Carpenter for the final out. The Japanese pitcher jumped into the arms of catcher David Ross while Red Sox players rushed from the dugout and bullpen as the Boston theme "Dirty Water" played on the public-address system.

"We have a lot of players with heart. We probably don't have the talent that we had in '07 and '04, but we have guys that are capable [of staying] focused and do the little things," said Ortiz, the Series MVP.

And the Red Sox didn't have to fly the trophy home. For the first time since Babe Ruth's team back in 1918, Boston won the title at Fenway Park. The 101-year-old ballpark, oldest in the majors, was packed with 38,447 singing, shouting fans anticipating a celebration 95 years in the making.

World Series winners since 2000

• 2013—Boston Red Sox (AL)
• 2012—San Francisco Giants (NL)
• 2011—St. Louis Cardinals (NL)
• 2010—San Francisco Giants (NL)
• 2009—New York Yankees (AL)
• 2008—Philadelphia Phillies (NL)
• 2007—Boston Red Sox (AL)
• 2006—St. Louis Cardinals (NL)
• 2005—Chicago White Sox (AL)
• 2004—Boston Red Sox (AL)
• 2003—Florida Marlins (NL)
• 2002—Anaheim Angels (AL)
• 2001—Arizona Diamondbacks (NL)
• 2000—New York Yankees (AL)

— The Associated Press

"Maybe they won't have to go another 95 years," said John Farrell, a champion in his first season as Boston's manager.

There wasn't the "Cowboy Up!" comeback charm of "The Idiots" from 2004, who swept St. Louis to end an 86-year title drought. There wasn't that cool efficiency of the 2007 team that swept Colorado.

This time, they were Boston Strong — playing for a city shaken by the marathon bombings in April.

"This is for you, Boston. You guys deserve it," Ortiz told the crowd. "We've been through a lot this year and this is for all of you and all those families who struggled."

After late-season slumps in 2010 and 2011, the embarrassing revelations of a chicken-and-beer clubhouse culture that contributed to the ouster of manager Terry Francona, and the daily tumult of Bobby Valentine's one-year flop, these Red Sox grew on fans.

Just like the long whiskers on the players' faces, starting with Gomes' scruffy spring training beard.

"As soon as we went to Fort Myers, the movie's already been written," Gomes said. "All we had to do was press play, and this is what happened."

Ortiz, the only player remaining from the 2004 champs, had himself a Ruthian World Series. He batted .688 (11 for 16) with two homers, six RBIs and eight walks — including four in the finale — for a .760 on-base percentage in 25 plate appearances.

Even slumping Stephen Drew delivered a big hit in Game 6, sending Wacha's first pitch of the fourth into the right-centre bullpen.

By the time the inning was over, RBI singles by Mike Napoli and Victorino had made it 6-0, and the Red Sox were on their way.

'Time to shine'

"Hey, I missed two games. It's time to shine," Victorino said.

All over New England, from Connecticut's Housatonic River up to the Aroostook in Maine, Boston's eighth championship can be remembered for the beard-yanking bonding.

Fans bid up the average ticket price to over $1,000 on the resale market and some prime locations went for more than $10,000 each. Nearly all the Red Sox rooters stood in place for 30 minutes after the final out to view the presentation of the trophy and MVP award.

"It was an awesome atmosphere here tonight," Lackey said.

The win capped an emotional season for the Red Sox, one heavy with the memory of the events that unfolded on Patriots Day, when three people were killed and more than 260 wounded in bombing attacks at the Boston Marathon. The Red Sox wore "Boston Strong" logos on their left sleeves, erected a large emblem on the Green Monster and moved the logo into the centre-field grass as a constant reminder.

"There's I think a civil responsibility that we have wearing this uniform, particularly here in Boston," Farrell said. "And it became a connection initially, the way our guys reached out to individuals or to hospital visits. And it continued to build throughout the course of the season. I think our fans, they got to a point where they appreciated the way we played the game, how they cared for one another. And in return they gave these guys an incredible amount of energy to thrive on in this ballpark."

Red, white and blue fireworks fired over the ballpark as Commissioner Bud Selig presented the World Series trophy to Red Sox owners John Henry, Tom Werner and Larry Lucchino, leaving a haze over the field.

Are you glad the Red Sox won the World Series?

"When the fireworks went off at the presentation of the trophy out there, when the ballpark was filled with smoke, it was completely surreal," Farrell said. "To be in this position, given where we've come from, reflecting back a year ago at this time, there's been a lot that's happened in 13 months."

Players then put on goggles for the champagne celebration in the cramped clubhouse.

"They had tremendous will," Henry said.

Among the players blamed for the indifferent culture at the end of the Francona years, Lackey took the mound two days shy of the second anniversary of his elbow surgery and got his first Series win since the 2002 clincher. He pitched shutout ball into the seventh, when Carlos Beltran's RBI single ended the Cardinals' slump with runners in scoring position at 0 for 14.

Junichi Tazawa came in with the bases loaded and retired Allen Craig on an inning-ending grounder to first. Brandon Workman followed in the eighth and Uehara finished.

St. Louis had been seeking its second title in three seasons, but the Cardinals sputtered after arriving in Boston late Tuesday following a seven-hour flight delay caused by mechanical problems. Symbolic of the team's struggles, reliever Trevor Rosenthal tripped while throwing a pitch to Ortiz in the eighth, balking Pedroia to second.

Pedroia had brought back memories of Carlton Fisk's 1975 Game 6-winning home run, sending a first-inning drive about 10 feet foul of the Green Monster foul pole — and waving his left arm once to try to urge the ball fair as he came out of the batter's box.

Lackey escaped a two-on, none-out jam in the second when he retired Matt Adams and David Freese on flyouts and, after a wild pitch, struck out Jon Jay. Boston wasted a similar threat in the bottom half, then went ahead on the third.

Jacoby Ellsbury singled leading off and took second on Pedroia's grounder. Ortiz was intentionally walked, Napoli struck out and Gomes was hit above the left elbow with a pitch, loading the bases.

Victorino, wearing red, white and blue spikes with an American flag motif, had been 0 for 10 in the Series and missed the previous two games with a bad back.

Dropped from second to sixth in the batting order, he took two balls and a called strike, then turned on a 93 mph fastball and sent it high off the 37-foot-high wall in left. Gomes slid home as Yadier Molina took Matt Holliday's one-hop throw and applied the tag, and the catcher then argued with plate umpire Jim Joyce.

Victorino, pumped with emotion, went to third on the throw and pounded his chest with both fists three times.

After Drew's homer, Lance Lynn relieved Wacha with two on, and RBI singles by Napoli and Victorino boosted Boston's lead to 6-0. Wacha entered 4-0 with a 1.00 ERA in his post-season career but gave up six runs, five hits and four walks in 3 2-3 innings, the shortest start of the 22-year-old's big league career.

'Too many mistakes'

"I just made too many mistakes," Wacha said. "It doesn't matter how hard you're throwing if you can't locate it."

Boston was a 30-1 underdog to win the World Series last winter but joined the 1991 Minnesota Twins as the only teams to win titles one season after finishing in last place. Now, the Red Sox will raise another championship flag before their home opener next season April 4 against Milwaukee.

The Red Sox had not played a Series Game 6 since that infamous night at New York's Shea Stadium in 1986, when Bill Buckner allowed Mookie Wilson's 10th-inning roller to get through his legs. And there had not been one at Fenway since Fisk's 12th-inning home run off the foul pole atop the Green Monster.

Following consecutive late-season skids, the Red Sox parted with Francona at the end of the 2011 season and reports emerged of players drinking beer and eating fried chicken in the clubhouse during games.

Members of the Boston Red Sox celebrate on the field after winning the 2013 World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals at Fenway Park on Wednesday. (Bob DeChiara/USA Today Sports/Reuters)

Valentine took over as manager, injuries caused Boston to use a club-record 56 players, and the Red Sox skidded to a 69-93 record, their poorest since 1965.

Farrell, Boston's pitching coach from 2007-10, was hired after a pair of seasons in Toronto's dugout.

A roster turnover began in August 2012 when Adrian Gonzalez, Josh Beckett, Carl Crawford and their big-money contracts were traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers in a deal that saved Boston just more than $261.66 million through 2018. The Red Sox restocked during the off-season by signing seven major league free agents for contracts of three years or fewer at a total of $100.45 million: Victorino, Napoli, Gomes, Drew, Uehara, Ryan Dempster and Ross.

After losing closers Joel Hanrahan and Andrew Bailey to injuries early in the season, the Red Sox remained relatively healthy: Seventeen players wound up on the DL, down from 27. They finished 97-65 — matching St. Louis for the best record in the major leagues — and made the playoffs for the first time since 2009. They also became the first team since the 2005 Cardinals to navigate the season without losing more than three in a row.

Boston hit just .211, the lowest average for a Series champion in 39 years and 13 points lower than the Cardinals. But after falling behind 2-1 on the first-game ending obstruction call in post-season history, the Red Sox tied it the following night on the first-game ending pickoff in the post-season. That sparked the Red Sox to three straight wins and another title.

"When we started rolling," Ortiz said, "nobody ever stopped the train."

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Red Sox slugger David Ortiz named World Series MVP

Most Valuable Papi.

David Ortiz walked off as the World Series MVP on Wednesday night, capping a dominant week in which he spurred the Boston Red Sox over St. Louis with a mix of power, patience and a most timely pep talk.

Ortiz hoisted reliever Koji Uehara after the final out of a 6-1 win, then Big Papi raised the gleaming gold trophy in his crowning achievement.

"I know I'm one of the forces for this ballgame and I like to take things personal," he said. "And that's been my whole career, a challenge."

"I wasn't trying to be the guy, but I know I got to get something done to keep the line moving," he said. "I don't even have to do anything today, I guess, the rest of the team took over."

Now a three-time champion, Oritz is the last link to the Red Sox team that swept the Cardinals in 2004 and ended an 86-year title drought.

After a while, the Cardinals simply gave up trying to get him out. Ortiz walked four times — three of them intentional — in the 6-1 win Wednesday night in Game 6 that clinched the championship.

When Ortiz came to the plate for the last time, in the eighth inning with the outcome safely in hand, Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina stood up and spoke to him in the batter's box. Molina softly patted Ortiz twice on the side, too.

Well done, pal.

Ortiz watched four more wide ones and trotted to first base, having piled up totals that not even slow-pitch softball players dream about: He reached base a whopping 19 times in 25 plate appearances.

The sellout crowd broke into thunderous chants of "MVP! MVP!" each time Ortiz batted. Quite a turnaround for the 37-year-old slugger who badly slumped in the AL championship series.

Ortiz hit 11 for 16 (.688) with two home runs and six RBIs against the Cardinals, and just missed a grand slam when Carlos Beltran robbed him by reaching over the short bullpen wall.

Asked to describe Ortiz, manager John Farrell paused.

"Well, I'd probably rather let his bat do the talking, because it's pretty special," he said.

Ortiz also drew eight walks and legged out a few infield hits, helped by St. Louis second baseman Matt Carpenter playing way out in shallow right field. At one point, Ortiz tied a Series record by reaching base in nine straight trips.

"He's as hot as anyone you're going to see this time of year," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. "We tried to make tough pitches in tough situations, tried to pitch around him at times."

Ortiz's .760 on-base percentage and batting average were the second-highest in Series history, trailing only Billy Hatcher's marks of .800 and .750 in 1990 for Cincinnati.

As Ortiz came up in the first inning, Molina and plate umpire Jim Joyce talked about him.

"This guy's unbelievable," Molina said on Fox audio.

"He's fun to watch," Joyce said.

Yet for all the impact he made swinging the bat in getting 11 of Boston's 41 hits — or just standing there and watching the Cardinals pitch around him — Ortiz made an equally important contribution with his words.

With St. Louis leading the Series 2-1 and the Red Sox scuffling in Game 4, Ortiz called his bearded band together for an impromptu huddle in the dugout.

Ortiz said he merely told the guys to relax, stay loose and appreciate the moment. His teammates told a different story after Boston rallied to win.

"It was like 24 kindergartners looking up at their teacher. He got everyone's attention and we looked him right in the eyes," said Jonny Gomes, who answered with a winning home run. "That message was pretty powerful."

That's also what the Red Sox expect from their Dominican-born thumper, known for his neatly tailored suits and dazzling diamond jewelry.

Whatever the Red Sox need, and whenever they need it, he's ready. When the Series shifted to St. Louis and there was no designated hitter, he adeptly moved from the DH spot to first base.

He did the same thing way back in the 2004 Series, and again in 2007 when the Red Sox swept Colorado.

As the Red Sox celebrated on the field after the final out, Ortiz considered what it meant to win a third title. Easy, he answered.

"That means I'm getting old," he said.

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Tigers' Miguel Cabrera has muscle repair surgery

Groin tear limited slugger late in regular season

The Associated Press Posted: Oct 29, 2013 12:30 PM ET Last Updated: Oct 29, 2013 12:30 PM ET

Miguel Cabrera underwent muscle repair surgery Tuesday and the Detroit Tigers slugger is expected to be ready for spring training.

The Tigers revealed after the season that Cabrera had been limited down the stretch by a tear in his groin. He still hit .348 with 44 home runs and 137 runs batted in during the season.

Cabrera batted .262 with two home runs in 11 post-season games before Detroit lost to Boston in the AL championship series.

The operation was performed by Dr. Bill Meyers in Philadelphia and the team said Monday that it was successful. Cabrera faces six to eight weeks of rehabilitation.

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Blue Jays pitcher R.A. Dickey wins 1st Gold Glove award

R.A. Dickey earned an American League Gold Glove on Tuesday to become the first Toronto Blue Jays pitcher to win the award.

Dickey had a 14-13 record with a 4.21 earned-run average and 177 strikeouts in his first season in Toronto.

He had only two errors in his 224.2 innings of play, qualifying him for the award as best fielder at his position for the first time in his career.

The 39-year-old knuckleballer is the ninth Blue Jay to win a Gold Glove and the first since outfielder Vernon Wells in 2006.

St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina won his sixth straight Gold Glove award Tuesday, making him one of four players in the World Series rewarded for superior defence this season.

Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia and right fielder Shane Victorino also were honoured, along with Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright. Boston has a 3-2 edge over St. Louis going into Game 6 on Wednesday night.

Colorado third baseman Nolan Arenado became the first rookie to win a Gold Glove since Seattle outfielder Ichiro Suzuki in 2001. Atlanta shortstop Andrelton Simmons and Baltimore third baseman Manny Machado also were among the eight first-time recipients.

"It's pretty awesome," Simmons said in a brief interview on ESPN during the awards show.

The Orioles and Royals had three winners apiece, tied for the most of any team. Baltimore finished with the fewest errors in the majors (54) and set a big league record with a .991 fielding percentage.

Kansas City left fielder Alex Gordon took his third Gold Glove in a row, while first baseman Eric Hosmer and catcher Salvador Perez each received their first.

"I've got a trophy case back in Lincoln, (Neb.), so this one won't be the chip-and-dip tray. This one will actually go up in the trophy case," Gordon said. "It means a lot. The first one was pretty special, just because it's the first one, but to be able to share it with two teammates makes this one the best one of all."

Baltimore shortstop J.J. Hardy and centre fielder Adam Jones were repeat winners, as was Rockies left fielder Carlos Gonzalez.

His 22-year-old teammate, Arenado, became the 10th rookie to win.

"I'm still kind of in shock. I still can't believe it," he said on ESPN.

Center fielder Carlos Gomez became the first Gold Glove winner for Milwaukee since shortstop Robin Yount in 1982, ending the longest drought for any team in the 57-year history of the award.

Arizona's Gerardo Parra won in right field after taking the National League honours in left two years ago. Other recipients in the NL were Cincinnati second baseman Brandon Phillips, his fourth, and Diamondbacks first baseman Paul Goldschmidt, his first.

"Pretty cool," said Goldschmidt, who also won the Hank Aaron Award as the NL's top hitter this season.

Now, a Gold Glove for Goldschmidt as well. Fits like a ... well ... you know.

"It's a huge honour to get recognized," he said. "There's so many great players around the league."

Since 1957, Rawlings has presented Gold Gloves to the finest fielders at their positions.

Managers and coaches vote for players in their league but cannot choose their own guys. For the first time this year, Rawlings added a sabermetric element to the balloting. The SABR Defensive Index made up about 25 per cent of the process.

"Wow, hard work pays off," Phillips said. "I take pride in my defence and try to go out there to make the pitching staff feel comfortable while they're on the mound. I like being the pitcher's best friend. People overlook defence these days."

Six teams accounted for 14 of the 18 winners. Only two clubs had multiple winners last season, when the Orioles claimed three and the New York Yankees two.

"To win three Gold Gloves this year was very impressive I think for our team, for our organization," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "These young men who won these Gold Gloves have worked their tails off defensively, and the thing that impresses me so much is I think these kids are only going to get better and better defensively."

Rawlings announced three finalists at each position last week. Tampa Bay's entire infield was picked, but none of those four players won. Baltimore led all teams with six finalists, including first baseman Chris Davis, right fielder Nick Markakis and catcher Matt Wieters.

At perhaps the most competitive spot, the 21-year-old Machado supplanted Texas' Adrian Beltre and Tampa Bay's Evan Longoria, who combined to win the previous six AL Gold Gloves at third base. Machado became the first Orioles third baseman to win since Hall of Famer Brooks Robinson took the last of his 16 straight in 1975.

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MLB seeks early dismissal of A-Rod lawsuit

Lawyers for Major League Baseball are seeking a speedy dismissal of an Alex Rodriguez lawsuit accusing the league and Commissioner Bud Selig of trying to drive him out of baseball, according to a letter sent to a judge Monday.

U.S. District Judge Lorna G. Schofield in Manhattan agreed that lawyers on both sides could make their formal requests by Nov. 8. A hearing is scheduled for a day earlier.

Jordan Siev, a lawyer for Rodriguez, wrote in a joint letter to the judge from lawyers on both sides that MLB lawyers planned to ask that the lawsuit be dismissed.

He said lawyers for the New York Yankees third baseman would ask that the case be remanded to state court in Manhattan, where Rodriguez had filed it early this month before the league removed it to federal court. Siev said the requests by the league and Rodriguez both concern whether the lawsuit's claims fall outside or are pre-empted by the Taft-Hartley Act, known formally as the Labor Management Relations Act.

In the lawsuit, Rodriguez accused the league and Selig of going on a "witch hunt" designed to force him out of the game. The Major League Baseball Players Association has filed a grievance to overturn a 211-game suspension given to Rodriguez by MLB on Aug. 5 for alleged violations of baseball's drug agreement and labour contract. A ruling in a case being heard by arbitrator Fredric Horowitz is not likely before winter.

The three-time AL MVP claimed in his lawsuit that MLB and Selig targeted Rodriguez to cover up Selig's alleged past inaction on performance-enhancing drugs. The lawsuit claimed Selig hoped to redeem himself by going after Rodriguez.

At the time the lawsuit was filed, the league called the action "desperate" and a violation of the confidentiality provisions of the league and union's Joint Drug Agreement.

A lawyer for the league and Selig referred a request for comment Monday to an MLB spokesman, who did not immediately respond.

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Red Sox catcher David Ross savours unthinkable

Becoming a World Series star was far from the troubled mind of David Ross last summer.

He had just gotten a tiebreaking, seventh-inning double in Monday night's 3-1 win over St. Louis, giving Boston a 3-2 World Series lead, and the journeyman catcher thought back to May 11.

A dreary Saturday afternoon at Fenway Park had begun with a 51-minute rain delay, and Toronto's Adam Lind hit a tiebreaking home run leading off the ninth inning in what would be a 3-2 Red Sox loss. Three pitches later, Colby Rasmus fouled a 93-mile-per-hour fastball off the upper part of the catcher's mark, near Ross's forehead.

Ross put a hand on his chest, took 30 seconds to compose himself and crouched down for another delivery. Nine pitches later, Emilio Bonifacio deflected a 94 mph heater smack at Ross's skull, so hard that the mask jarred back. Ross put his right hand on his head and about a minute later was ready for another delivery.

Turns out they were more than just another pair of foul tips.

'I got home and my wife said, You're not right. And they did some tests and kind of concluded I wasn't right.'- Red Sox catcher David Ross

Ross went on the seven-day concussion disabled list and didn't return until May 25. He fell into a 3-for-22 slide put kept on playing.

On June 14 at Baltimore, Manny Machado fouled Ryan Dempster's fourth pitch of the night, an 87 mph fastball, off the mask again. Ross grimaced, grabbed the front of his headgear, walked out to the mound and got back behind the plate. He finished out the 2-0 defeat. Four days later, he was back on the DL.

"I got home and my wife said, 'You're not right,"' he recalled. "And they did some tests and kind of concluded I wasn't right. Then I tried to come back fast, not giving enough credit to really what a concussion is. As athletes we feel like we can get through anything, and I couldn't. I stunk for a good two weeks, three weeks, and my wife finally was like, 'If you don't tell the doctors, I'm going to."'

2-month layoff

The Red Sox sent him to Pittsburgh to be examined on June 20 by Dr. Mickey Collins, a concussion specialist. Ross didn't play for Boston again until Aug. 20.

"We try to do mind over matter sometimes, and the hardest part when you're going through something like that is just you don't have a cast on or you didn't have surgery," Ross said. "I looked fine, but I wasn't right. It's hard to look your teammates in the eye when you're going through something like that and see if you're bowing out or not, with the questions that they have. Because I used to do the same thing. 'Concussion, just push through it. You're not tough enough' or something like that."

But now he knew.

"Headaches and dizziness and all the symptoms, couldn't ride in a car, couldn't be in crowded places," he said, "but did all the exercises Mickey put me through and slowly came back. And thank goodness my hitting has come around, because I stunk there for a while."

The very definition of a bench player — he's never gotten more than 311 at-bats in a year — Ross hit .270 over the final 5 ½ weeks of the regular season.

"There's a reason why I hit in the 8-hole and the 9-hole in the American League," he said. "I'm not very good at hitting."

He was 1-for-9 in the World Series before his fifth-inning single. And then Ross pulled a 79 mph hanging curveball from Adam Wainwright down the left-field line that landed just a few inches fair, allowing Xander Bogaerts to score from second.

'I never thought I'd be here'

If the ball hadn't bounced into the stands, Stephen Drew would have scored from first. He came around on Jacoby Ellsbury's single as Ross was thrown out at the plate by centre-fielder Shane Robinson.

"The trip I've taken this year, I never thought I'd be here, There were times I was questioning whether my career was over," Ross said with a smile that brightened the interview room. "I'm playing in the World Series, so just this whole skit is just -- I'm up here talking to you guys. This is pretty cool, right?"

Now 36 and in his 12th big-league season, Ross's sandy-coloured beard makes him look more aging rocker than dashing athlete. A veteran of six major league organizations, he signed last November for his second tour with the Red Sox, his team for part of 2008.

Ross had never seen himself in the Series spotlight.

'I'm just in awe of being in the World Series, really.'- Ross after Boston's Game 5 win

"I'm kind of more of a keep-my-head-down-and-work-hard kind of guy," he said, "I'm not the type of player who can plan out all these goals. That's probably why it hadn't sunk in yet of what all this is, because I'm worried about Game 6 already. There's a pit in my stomach already."

After it was over, already showered and dressed for the flight home, he was given a televised post-game news conference. He called it "the signature moment" of his career.

"I'm just in awe of being in the World Series, really," he said, turning around to look at the MLB logos on the backdrop behind him, as if he wasn't quite sure they were real.

"That's when you see people on TV," he said excitedly. "I'm stoked!"

Ross had answered questions for 14 minutes, yet he still didn't want to leave the room.

"Jon Lester is waiting to come in," announced Phyllis Merhige, an MLB senior vice-president. "You can stay as long as you like."

"Can I sit up here while he's up here?" Ross asked.

And so he did, alongside Lester and David Ortiz, savouring the night of his career just a little bit longer.

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Obstruction call overshadows Game 3 of World Series

By Sunday morning, most everyone had become an expert on the obstruction rule.

"How can u make a call like that in the World Series," rapper Lil Wayne tweeted.

"Worst ending to a World Series game ever!" PGA golfer Hunter Mahan posted.

"Obstruction of justice," Arizona Cardinals kicker Jay Feely wrote.

No matter that the Official Baseball Rules have a slightly different take on what happened between the Cardinals and Red Sox in Game 3 at Busch Stadium.

But anytime someone scores the winning run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning without even touching home plate — called safe on an extremely rare ruling by an umpire — it's bound to cause a little ruckus.

On this point, all sides seemed to agree: Allen Craig's wild trip over Boston third baseman Will Middlebrooks likely made for the most crazy, chaotic October finish of all-time.

And it gave St. Louis a 5-4 win Saturday night and a 2-1 edge. 

'As a baseball fan, you hate to see a game end like that. Obviously I'm on the Cardinals, so I'm fortunate the rule is the way it is. And you hate to say it, but he impeded the process of running home.'- Cardinals' Adam Wainwright

"As a baseball fan, you hate to see a game end like that," pitcher Adam Wainwright said Sunday before Game 4. "Obviously I'm on the Cardinals, so I'm fortunate the rule is the way it is. And you hate to say it, but he impeded the process of running home."

"But I totally understand why Red Sox players would be upset about that. That is just a horrible way to lose a baseball game, no question about it," he said.

For more than a century, the World Series has delivered dramatic endings — Kirk Gibson's homer, Carlton Fisk's shot, David Freese's drive on this very same field in 2011.

There have been plenty of kooky plays — Reggie Jackson turning his hip to get hit by a throw, Roger Clemens throwing part of a broken bat toward Mike Piazza, an out in the 1970 Series when the catcher missed the runner and the runner missed the plate.

But no one had seen anything quite like this.

"Never," umpire crew chief John Hirschbeck said.

"Never," third base umpire Jim Joyce said after making the call.

Said Craig: "I didn't know if I was out or safe or not."

Craig was awarded home after getting tangled with Middlebrooks. A wild throw set off the sequence, and Middlebrooks was sprawled in the baseline and kicked up his legs as Craig tripped over him.

Running on a banged-up foot, Craig headed home and the throw by left fielder Daniel Nava beat him. Catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia made the tag in plenty of time and Craig never reached the plate. But umpire Dana DeMuth signalled safe, having seen Joyce's call at third base.

Both teams immediately rushed to the plate. Middlebrooks threw down his glove and joined the Boston argument. The Cardinals came out to celebrate.

The fans took awhile to react, unsure of what they'd just witnessed.

"I think maybe 75 per cent of the guys didn't know what happened," Cardinals star Carlos Beltran said.

"I wasn't sure why he was called safe," Middlebrooks said.

Middlebrooks said any contact was accidental. Doesn't matter, though. The play is covered by Rule 2.00 and Rule 7.06, and makes it clear that obstruction is called anytime a runner is impeded.

"It does not have to be intent. There does not have to be intent. OK?" Hirschbeck said.

Not OK, Boston pitcher Jake Peavy said.

"It's a joke," Peavy groused.

Saltalamacchia was more forgiving.

"At the end of the day, if it was obstruction, you've got to call it. It's part of the game," he said. "I don't know the rulebook in and out. To me, it didn't look like it was obstruction."

How rare was it?

The last time a big league game ended on an obstruction call was 2004, when umpire Paul Emmel said Seattle shortstop Jose Lopez blocked Carl Crawford's sightline. Emmel was the first base umpire Saturday night.

Longtime Red Sox fans remember a noncall that went against them in the 1975 World Series. In Game 3, Cincinnati's Ed Armbrister bunted in the 10th inning and bumped into catcher Carlton Fisk. There was no interference called, Fisk made a wild throw and Joe Morgan hit a winning single.

Watching from the dugout Saturday night, St. Louis manager Mike Matheny wasn't sure what to think.

Matheny had seen umpires reverse a call in Game 1 that cost the Cardinals. He'd seen Craig trip and was ready to argue. And he also saw Craig down in the dirt after re-injuring his foot.

"We were wanting to celebrate, but we see a guy laying there and it's all confusing," Matheny said Sunday. "And we see the umpires come together, and that didn't work out real good for us last time."

"We got inside the clubhouse, and it was still kind of that sombre mood," he said. "And Chris Carpenter yelled out real loud, 'Hey, boys, we just won a World Series game!"'

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Red Sox rally to square World Series with Cardinals

There's no telling how these wacky World Series games will end.

One night after a rare obstruction call, Jonny Gomes hit a decisive homer when he wasn't even in the original lineup and Koji Uehara picked off a rookie at first base for the final out.

An entertaining, even goofy World Series is tied at two games apiece following Boston's 4-2 victory Sunday night, which ensured the title will be decided back at Boston's Fenway Park.

"Emotional roller-coaster here, obviously," Gomes said.

Inserted into the lineup about 75 minutes before gametime, Gomes hit a tiebreaking, three-run shot off reliever Seth Maness in the sixth inning.

Felix Doubront and surprise reliever John Lackey, both starters during the regular season, picked up for a gritty Clay Buchholz to help the Red Sox hang on.

And of course, another bizarre ending: Uehara picked off pinch-runner Kolten Wong — with post-season star Carlos Beltran standing at the plate.

It was the first post-season game in history to end on a pickoff, according to STATS.

Game 5 is Monday night at Busch Stadium, with Boston left-hander Jon Lester facing Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright in a rematch of the opener won 8-1 by the Red Sox.

Gomes helped get Boston started in the fifth when he followed David Ortiz's leadoff double with a 10-pitch walk that tired starter Lance Lynn, who had faced the minimum 12 batters through the first four innings.

Stephen Drew's sacrifice fly tied the score 1-all, erasing a deficit created when centre fielder Jacoby Ellsbury's third-inning error advanced Matt Carpenter into scoring position for Beltran's RBI single.

Ortiz, who homered in the first two games of the Series, had three of Boston's six hits and was the club's leader, smacking his hands together and screaming at teammates to get going when he pulled into second base on his double. Then, after the fifth inning, he huddled the Red Sox for a pep talk in the dugout.

Adrenaline rush

Not long after, Gomes' drive put Boston ahead 4-1 in the sixth.

With adrenaline taking over, Gomes spiked an arm through the air as he rounded first base, yelled and banged his chest with a fist twice. Teammates tugged on Gomes' beard for good luck when he got back to the dugout, including a two-handed pull by Mike Napoli.

While talk of umpires' calls dominated discussion following two of the opening three games, this one turned on a manager's pregame decision.

John Farrell's original Red Sox lineup didn't include Gomes, but Victorino's back had been bothering him since Saturday, so Daniel Nava was moved from left field to right and from fifth to second in the batting order. Gomes was inserted into the No. 5 hole behind Ortiz.

"Since I signed up for this game, all I wanted was the opportunity," Gomes said. "I just wanted to be in the box."

Gomes had been 0 for 9 in the Series before the home run, and Red Sox outfielders had been 4 for 40 with no RBIs. Following Dustin Pedroia's two-out single and a four-pitch walk to Ortiz by Lynn, Maness threw five straight sliders to Gomes, who sent the last one into the Red Sox bullpen in left as Matt Holliday kept running back only to run out of room.

"I take a lot of pride in the at-bat in front of me and behind me," Gomes said. "Obviously, Big Papi is pretty much an intentional walk. I did what I could to give him a little protection."

Carpenter singled in a run in the seventh off Craig Breslow in the seventh after pinch-hitter Shane Robinson doubled with two outs against Doubront on a ball that skidded away from Gomes. Junichi Tazawa came in and got Holliday to hit an inning-ending grounder to second, a night after allowing a tiebreaking, two-run double to Holliday.

Doubront got the win with 2 2-3 innings of one-hit relief. Lackey, the Game 2 loser and Boston's probable Game 6 starter, pitched the eighth for his first relief appearance in nine years, overcoming a two-base throwing error by third baseman Xander Bogaerts — Boston's seventh error of the Series — and a wild pitch.

With a runner on third, Lackey got Jon Jay to pop up and David Freese to ground out.

Uehara, Boston's sixth pitcher, got three outs for his sixth save this post-season, completing a six-hitter.

Lynn was the hard-luck loser, leaving with the score tied and two on for Maness, who allowed Gomes' homer on his fifth pitch.

A night after one of the craziest endings in Series history — an obstruction call on Red Sox third baseman Will Middlebrooks — Boston ensured the Series will return to Fenway Park for Game 6 on Wednesday night.

"We stayed away from throwing the ball down the third base line tonight," Gomes said.

Special anniversary

It was a special anniversary for both teams. Exactly nine years earlier, the Red Sox completed a four-game sweep of the Cardinals across the street at old Busch Stadium for their first championship since 1918. And two years earlier, Freese hit a tying, two-run, two-out triple in the ninth against Texas and a winning homer in the 11th to force a Game 7, which St. Louis won the following night.

Buchholz, in his first appearance since the AL championship series finale on Oct. 19, fought through shoulder issues and his velocity topped out at 90 mph. He lasted a season-low four innings and 66 pitches before he was lifted for a pinch-hitter, but he allowed just an unearned run and three hits.

"We have guys with heart. Clay, he brought everything he's got," Ortiz said. "I have never seen Clay throwing an 88 mph fastball."

Fielding for the Red Sox became trouble again in the third when Carpenter singled to centre with one out, and the ball appeared to take a high hop and roll away from Ellsbury. Carpenter sprinted to second on the second error of the Series by Ellsbury — who had just three during the regular season.

Beltran singled into centre field two pitches later, making him 8 for 10 with 12 RBIs with runners in scoring position during the post-season.

There almost was another miscue in the fourth following a one-out walk to Jay. Freese bounced to Drew, and the shortstop grabbed the grounder on the run and flipped the ball with his glove high to Pedroia at second. He jumped and just got his left foot down in time to force Jay, who slid into him hard.

After Ortiz's double to the right-centre field wall in the fifth, Gomes fell behind 0-2 in the count and then worked out his walk. Lynn appeared to be too fine with his pitches as he walked rookie Bogaerts, loading the bases, and Drew lofted a fly to medium left near the foul line.

Holliday's one-hop throw home hit the sliding Ortiz in the back and bounced away. Lynn recovered to strike out David Ross and induce an inning-ending groundout from pinch-hitter Mike Carp.

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Obstruction call in 9th gives Cardinals Game 3 World Series win

No way Allen Craig and the St. Louis Cardinals would get tripped up in one of the wildest World Series endings imaginable.

A rare obstruction call on third baseman Will Middlebrooks let Craig score with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, finishing off a mad-cap play that sent the Cardinals over the Boston Red Sox 5-4 Saturday night for a 2-1 Series lead.

"I'm in shock right now," St. Louis catcher Yadier Molina said.

So was most everyone at Busch Stadium.

The Cardinals poured out of the dugout to congratulate Craig. The Red Sox also rushed to the plate, to argue with the umpires. The fans seemed too startled to cheer.

A walk-off win? More like a trip-off.

"Tough way to have a game end, particularly of this significance," Red Sox manager John Farrell said.

After an umpire's call was the crux of Game 1 and a poor Boston throw to third base helped decide Game 2, this night combined both elements.

Molina singled with one out in the ninth off losing pitcher Brandon Workman. Craig, just back from a sprained foot, pinch-hit and lined Koji Uehara's first pitch into left field for a double that put runners on second and third.

With the infield in, Jon Jay hit a grounder to diving second baseman Dustin Pedroia. He made a sensational stab and threw home to catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia, who tagged out the sliding Molina.

But then Saltalamacchia threw wide of third trying to get Craig. The ball glanced off Middlebrooks' glove and Craig's body, caroming into foul territory down the line.

After the ball got by, Middlebrooks, lying on his stomach, raised both legs and tripped Craig, slowing him down as he tried to take off for home.

"I just know I have to dive for that ball. I'm on the ground. There's nowhere for me to go," Middlebrooks said.

Third base umpire Jim Joyce immediately signalled obstruction, but the players left nothing to chance.

"With the defensive player on the ground, without intent or intent, it's still obstruction," Joyce said. "You'd probably have to ask Middlebrooks that one, if he could have done anything. But that's not in our determination."

Craig kept scrambling to get up.

"He was in my way. I couldn't tell you if he tried to trip me or not. I was just trying to get over him," he said.

Left fielder Daniel Nava retrieved the ball and made a strong throw home, where Saltalamacchia tagged a sliding Craig in time. But plate umpire Dana DeMuth signalled safe and then pointed to third, making clear the obstruction had been called.

"I was excited at first because we nailed the guy at home. I wasn't sure why he was called safe," Middlebrooks said.

"We're all running to home to see why he was called safe. We didn't think there was any obstruction there, obviously. As I'm getting up, he trips over me. I don't know what else to say."

Said Cardinals slugger Matt Holliday: "You hate for it to end on a somewhat controversial play."

"You would like for it to end a little cleaner, but that's part of it," he said.

Painful flashback

To some Red Sox fans, the tangle might've brought back painful memories from the 1975 World Series. In Game 3, Cincinnati's Ed Armbrister wasn't called for interference by plate umpire Larry Barnett when he blocked Boston catcher Carlton Fisk on a 10th-inning bunt. Fisk made a wild throw, setting up Joe Morgan's winning single.

Craig returned for this Series from a sprained left foot that had sidelined him since early September. After an awkward slide on the final play, he hobbled off the field in apparent discomfort.

The Red Sox scored twice in the eighth to tie it 4-all. Jacoby Ellsbury led off with a single and Shane Victorino was hit by a pitch for the sixth time this post-season. Both runners moved up on Pedroia's groundout, and David Ortiz was intentionally walked.

Cardinals manager Mike Matheny went to hard-throwing closer Trevor Rosenthal with the bases loaded, hoping for a five-out save from a rookie who has looked almost untouchable this October. But the Red Sox pushed two runs across.

Nava drove in one with a short-hop grounder that was smothered by second baseman Kolten Wong, who had just entered on defence in a double-switch.

Wong went to second for the forceout, but Nava beat the relay and Ellsbury scored to make it 4-3. Xander Bogaerts tied it when he chopped a single up the middle.

Workman jammed Holliday and retired the slugger on a routine fly with two on to end the bottom of the eighth. That sent the game to the ninth tied at 4. Rosenthal wound up with the win.

Holliday's two-run double put the Cardinals on top 4-2 in the seventh.

It was a tough inning for Red Sox reliever Craig Breslow. Matt Carpenter reached safely when he checked his swing on an infield single to shortstop. Carlos Beltran was grazed on the elbow pad by a pitch — making no effort to get out of the way.

Beltran, in fact, almost appeared to stick his elbow out just a tiny bit to make sure the ball made contact.

Junichi Tazawa came on and Holliday pulled a grounder past Middlebrooks at third. The ball kicked into the left-field corner and Holliday went all the way to third on the throw to the plate.

Preventing further damage

Tazawa then got a couple of strikeouts and prevented further damage.

It was Middlebrooks' first inning in the field. He entered as a pinch-hitter in the top of the seventh and took over at third base in the bottom half.

That shifted Bogaerts to shortstop — and neither one was able to make the difficult defensive play Boston needed in that inning.

Cardinals starter Joe Kelly, one of the few major league pitchers to wear glasses on the mound, set down his first nine batters. The Red Sox seemed to see him better the next time around in coming back from a 2-0 deficit.

Bogaerts opened the fifth with a triple that banged-up right fielder Beltran couldn't quite reach. The rookie later scored on a grounder by pinch-hitter Mike Carp.

Slumping Shane Victorino drew a leadoff walk from Kelly in the sixth and wound up scoring the tying run. Ortiz grounded a single off lefty reliever Randy Choate, and Nava greeted Seth Maness with an RBI single that made it 2-all.

Their fielding woes from Game 1 far behind them, the slick-fielding Cardinals made several sharp plays. Kelly barehanded a one-hopper, Carpenter threw out a runner from his knees up the middle and third baseman David Freese backhanded a line drive.

St. Louis quickly broke ahead, scoring in the first inning for the first time this October on RBI singles by Holliday and Molina. After the Cardinals got three hits in a span of four pitches, Red Sox reliever Felix Doubront began heating up in a hurry before Jake Peavy settled down.

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Red Sox becoming their own worst enemy

The Boston Red Sox keep stumbling. Forget about getting in the path of opponents, they can't even stay out of their own way.

Another bad throw to third.

Another painful loss.

And now, for the first time in 27 years, the Red Sox find themselves in a World Series deficit.

Usually you see tripping penalties in hockey games, not baseball games.

The crazy 5-4 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals on Saturday night, which ended with third baseman Will Middlebrooks, flat on his stomach, raising both legs and obstructing Allen Craig, joins the bizarre Boston lore that include Johnny Pesky holding the ball on Harry Walker's hit in 1946 and Bill Buckner allowing Mookie Wilson's grounder to through his legs in 1986.

And now, things get really dicey.

With Boston trailing 2-1 in the Series, the Red Sox start Craig Buchholz in Game 4, a pitcher unsure how far he can go with a barking shoulder.

Felix Doubront, the most likely emergency starter, threw two innings and 25 pitches on Saturday night after Jake Peavy lasted just four innings.

Hope for a third Series sweep in a decade disappeared when Craig Breslow threw wildly over third base in Game 2 and into the Fenway Park stands, turning a tying sacrifice fly into two runs.

When this one ended, Middlebrooks approached the umpires and raising his arms wide, as if to say "What could I do?"

Well, the Red Sox could stop aiming throws to third base at the seats down the left-field line.

Craig may have fallen at third base, but it was the Red Sox who flopped.

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Giants' Tim Lincecum finalizes 2-year, $35M deal

Tim Lincecum wants nothing more than to return to his old dominant self in the very place where he has been at his best before.

The two-time NL Cy Young Award winner finalized his $35 million, two-year contract with the San Francisco Giants on Friday after passing a physical. Now, he is ready to get back to work and build toward a comeback season in 2014. He will begin his off-season workout routine in earnest with a training appointment Monday in the Seattle area.

"It gives you that freedom that I've done it with this group before. I feel like we can do it again, and personally I feel like I can succeed there again," Lincecum said. "As a group, I feel like we have the right tools to make another push. Those are the kind of things you look for when going after an organization. When I'm already plugged into one, I don't have to look too far to see what they've done and what I've been able to do with them."

Just as the Giants had hoped, they signed Lincecum before he went on the free-agent market.

Lincecum, who pitched a no-hitter on July 13 at San Diego, reached agreement on the new deal earlier in the week that keeps him with his only major league team through 2015. The contract pays $17 million for next year and $18 million in '15.

Lincecum's contract includes a full no-trade clause. In addition, he can earn an additional $250,000 each for 210 innings pitched and 220 innings. 

'It gives you that freedom that I've done it with this group before. I feel like we can do it again, and personally I feel like I can succeed there again.'- Tim Lincecum

He would earn $500,000 for another Cy Young, $250,000 for second place, $100,000 (third), $75,000 (fourth) and $50,000 (fifth).

If he wins the 2014 Cy Young award, the first-place bonus would increase to $1 million for the following year.

In addition, Lincecum would earn $250,000 for NL MVP with additional bonuses for second through fifth place. He would receive $100,000 for an All-Star selection and $50,000 for a Gold Glove.

Lincecum will get a hotel suite on the road. The contract also calls for him to purchase 25 tickets to each home game for underprivileged children in the Bay Area.

"This was targeted as a baseball signing," CEO Larry Baer said. "This was the right thing for the Giants to keep the rotation strong and keep the team's chances of winning strong. ... Timmy is a very popular guy but I don't want it to be misinterpreted that this was done because he's popular."

He just completed a $40.5 million, two-year contract that paid him $22 million this season.

Given the uncertainty in the rotation, keeping one of the club's most notable faces means a lot to manager Bruce Bochy.

The Giants, who won the World Series in 2010 and again last year, will not exercise left-hander Barry Zito's $18 million option for 2014, and Ryan Vogelsong might not return.

Lincecum said late in the season he is a creature of familiarity and hoped to stay put with San Francisco, which drafted him 10th overall out of Washington in 2006 and quickly promoted him to the majors in May 2007.

He pitched the Game 5 World Series clincher at Texas in 2010, when the Giants captured their first championship since moving West in 1958. Then in 2012, Lincecum moved to the bullpen for the playoffs and emerged as a reliable reliever as San Francisco won another title.

Lincecum — the Cy Young winner in 2008 and '09, when he won 18 and 15 games, respectively — went 10-14 with a 4.37 ERA and 193 strikeouts over 32 starts last year, his third straight season with a losing record.

Still, Lincecum's strides down the stretch to get back to top form were encouraging for the Giants' brass.

"He gave us really positive signs as to what he's capable of doing," assistant general manager Bobby Evans said. "He is an important part of our rotation and we are very pleased to have him back for at least two more years."

The right-hander joined Hall of Famers Juan Marichal and Gaylord Perry, and Kirk Rueter as the only Giants in San Francisco history to win at least 10 games in six straight seasons.

"When your last couple years are a collective 4.50 (ERA), that's not the way you want to go out," Lincecum said. "That's not the guy I am."

The 5-foot-11, 170-pound Lincecum earned the nicknames The Freak and Franchise for his quick rise to the majors and his quirky delivery. A four-time All-Star, he is 89-70 with a 3.46 ERA over seven major league seasons.

There was some thought he might test the open market and at least listen to any offers from his hometown Seattle Mariners.

"Up until this year I hadn't really thought about it. I've always kind of looked at myself as a Giant, even a couple years ago when there were contract talks and two years before that," he said. "Home is always going to be home to me. Maybe I'll look at that route later on in life as a professional place. Personally, I wasn't ready for that kind of jump."

General manager Brian Sabean has now checked off two important items from his to-do list looking forward to what he hopes is a comeback year for the club in 2014. In late September, the Giants signed right fielder Hunter Pence to a $90 million, five-year contract before the season ended. He played every game this year.

Zito, who recently took out a full-page newspaper ad thanking Giants fans, will be due a $7 million buyout as he departs following a $126 million, seven-year contract. The move will be made formal at the conclusion of the World Series.

Now, San Francisco has a rotation led by Lincecum, Matt Cain and Madison Bumgarner.

"When you have staples in a rotation like this, mainstay guys who have come up through the organization, myself, Cain and Bummy, that's a pretty good collective group of guys to base your rotation off of," Lincecum said. "I know that I haven't had the greatest year, but I've got to go in with confidence knowing that I'm going to get back to where I need to be. That's pretty much my mindset right now."

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Cardinals thrilled for World Series shift to St. Louis

From the Green Monster to the Gateway Arch. From the Charles River to the mighty Mississippi. From clam chowder to toasted ravioli.

The World Series scene is shifting, and St. Louis ace Adam Wainwright couldn't be happier.

"We love Cardinal country," he said Friday.

For good reason, too. After Boston split the first two games at Fenway Park, now Dustin Pedroia, Jacoby Ellsbury and the rest of the Red Sox will get to see what makes this place so special.

Especially in October.

"Well, we love playing here at Busch Stadium. Like I said, it's a sea of red," pitcher Joe Kelly said.

The free-spirited Kelly was set to start Game 3 on Saturday night against Jake Peavy.

"This is what I've lived for my whole life — my whole baseball career, I should say," Peavy said. "I'm as prepared as I'll ever be — physically, mentally."

Also warmed up: A team of eight Clydesdales, ready to pull a red beer wagon around the warning track before the first pitch. It's also a tradition for fans to gather early at the Musial statue — there are two honouring Stan the Man, actually.

Red Sox closer Koji Uehara took a moment to soak it all in. As he walked onto the field for a workout, the first-time visitor looked at the gleaming Arch hovering high beyond the centre-field fence. 

'This is what I've lived for my whole life — my whole baseball career, I should say. I'm as prepared as I'll ever be — physically, mentally.'- Red Sox starter Jake Peavy

The Cardinals rely on a lot more than pomp when they play in their own park.

They led the NL in scoring while going 54-27 at Busch, and then let pitching take over in the post-season. St. Louis is 5-1 at home in the playoffs — in those five wins, opponents scored a total of five runs.

Boston has hit just .188 so far in the Series, with David Ortiz providing the biggest bop. He's homered in both games and is 4 for 6 overall with five RBIs.

With no designated hitter in the National League park, Ortiz will switch to first base. Manager John Farrell wouldn't say whether Ortiz would start there for every game in St. Louis, but it's a good guess regular first baseman Mike Napoli will be on the bench for a while.

Farrell also said lefty-swinging Daniel Nava would start in left field instead of Jonny Gomes, who is 0 for 7 so far.

"Obviously David's bat, at all costs, needs to be in the lineup," Peavy said. "David is a game-changer. He's as clutch as anybody I can remember playing with or against."

"It just seems like he has a flair for the dramatic. When the situation is the biggest, he's at his best," he said.

Ortiz hit a two-run homer off rookie sensation Michael Wacha in Game 2 that put Boston ahead 2-1 in the sixth inning, but St. Louis rallied in the seventh for a 4-2 win.

The Red Sox will spend this weekend at the stadium a few blocks from the Mississippi River.

"I believe our ballpark is very fair. I don't think there's one thing that would make our team any more effective in this park than any other," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. "It's not like there's the oddities, like a Green Monster or deep corners and gaps."

"But you can't help but buy into the atmosphere, especially when you're at home and every single thing you do gets such a positive response," he said.

Kelly is glad to be home, all the way around.

"You get to sleep in your own bed. You get to do what you normally do on a regular basis," he said. "If you get coffee in the morning, you go to your coffee shop. It's just a comfort level to know that it's your home away from your off-season home."

For the Red Sox, this is their first visit to St. Louis since Ortiz hit a home run on June 8, 2005, in a win at the previous Busch Stadium. The new park opened the next year.

Kelly also had some friendly advice for Boston's first-time visitors. It involved a local favourite, a food that many are certain started in this city.

"Find some toasted raviolis, eat some. Those are good, especially in St. Louis," he said.

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Minor leaguer questions Red Sox pitcher Jon Lester

Jon Lester says there was nothing but rosin — which is perfectly legal — on his glove when he beat the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 1 of the World Series.

A Cardinals minor leaguer posted a screen shot on Twitter showing a green substance on Lester's glove. Tyler Melling, a 25-year-old pitcher in the Florida State League, wrote: "Jon Lester using a little Vaseline inside the glove tonight?"

The Boston Red Sox left-hander said before Game 2 on Thursday night that "I can honestly tell you that all I use is rosin. So, it's obviously frustrating that after a night like last night, we should be having fun and running around with some energy today and I've got to stand here and answer questions about it."

Lester allowed five hits in 7 2-3 scoreless innings with eight strikeouts and a walk in the Red Sox's 8-1 victory.

Boston manager John Farrell also said Lester uses only rosin, which is provided on the pitcher's mound, to get a better grip.

"If you know Jon Lester, he sweats like a pig and he needs rosin," Farrell said before Game 2. "I don't see this as anything at all."

Major League Baseball said in a statement Thursday that "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."

Section 8.02 of the Official Baseball Rules says a pitcher "shall not apply a foreign substance of any kind to the ball" and says the penalty for a violation is ejection and an automatic suspension.

"MLB has obviously evaluated it and issued a statement," Farrell said. "We consider it closed."

Melling's tweet was later deleted.

"Obviously, when I get a text at 2 o'clock in the morning, it's not fun," a composed Lester said. "I understand. I saw the picture. It looks bad."

He also said he sweats a lot and rosin helps control that.

"I throw rosin in my glove. That's it," Lester said. "I warm up with one hat in the bullpen and then have to change hats when I come in [to the dugout]. I've had plenty of games where I've got sweat dripping off my brim. I've put rosin on my hat before to try to stop it. You do a lot of different things to just try to try to contain it.

"Even on a cold night like last night, I'm still sweating, so you've got to do certain things to try to keep a grip on the ball and not let it slip, and rosin is one of those things that seems to help me."

Asked if he's sure that rosin was the only substance in Lester's glove, Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said, "this was not instigated by us. And the way that we approach this is we just play the game. We don't deny that some things have been acknowledged. And if that's what he claims, then that's what it is. That's all there is to it. And right now it's pretty much a dead issue."

Lester said the issue wouldn't affect him in the future.

"I played with Jon basically my whole professional career," Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia said. "He kind of sweats a lot, man. I know he loads up with rosin all over the place. I don't even like going out there and telling him 'good job,' and patting him on the back because you get all wet and stuff."

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Cardinals get even with Red Sox in World Series

Just when it seemed Michael Wacha had cracked, the St. Louis Cardinals began scooting around the bases and tied the World Series.

Wacha beat John Lackey in a matchup of present and past rookie sensations, and this time it was the Cardinals' turn to take advantage of sloppy fielding as St. Louis topped the Boston Red Sox 4-2 Thursday night to even the Series at a game apiece.

David Ortiz put Boston ahead in the sixth inning with a two-run homer just over the Green Monster in left, ending Wacha's scoreless streak at 18 2-3 innings — a rookie record for a single post-season.

But then Lackey, who in 2002 with the Angels became the first rookie in 93 years to win a World Series seventh game, faltered in a three-run seventh. St. Louis went ahead when Matt Carpenter hit a sacrifice fly that led to a pair of runs, with the second scoring on errors by catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia and reliever Craig Breslow.

Carlos Beltran, back in the lineup after bruising ribs in the opener, followed with an RBI single.

"I wanted to be in the lineup. I worked so hard to get to this point," Beltran said. "Somebody would have to kill me in order for me to get out of the lineup."

Who will win the World Series?

When the Series resumes Saturday night in St. Louis, Jake Peavy starts for the Red Sox and Joe Kelly for the Cardinals. Twenty-nine of the previous 55 teams that won Game 2 to tie the Series went on to take the title.

"Excited to get home. I know everybody is," St. Louis manager Mike Matheny said.

Wacha, a 22-year-old right-hander, was the NL championship series MVP after beating Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw twice. Wacha wasn't quite as sharp in this one, allowing two runs, three hits and four walks in six innings with six strikeouts.

He threw a career-high 114 pitches, and when he reached the dugout after Ortiz's homer, he slammed his glove onto the bench.

Still, the rookie improved to 4-0 with a 1.00 ERA in four outings this post-season, matching the amount of regular-season wins he has in his brief career. 

'[Wacha] pitched outstanding. Just one pitch, to a great hitter like Big Papi. We take our hat off to him, but I mean, he pitched good tonight.'- Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina

"He pitched outstanding," Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina said. "Just one pitch, to a great hitter like Big Papi. We take our hat off to him, but I mean, he pitched good tonight."

Wacha's parents and sister made the trip from Texarkana, Texas, and sat bundled in cold-weather clothes in the stands to watch the 19th pick in last year's amateur draft.

The Cardinals' hard-throwing bullpen combined for one-hit relief. Carlos Martinez got six outs, retiring Mike Napoli on an inning-ending popup with two on in the eighth. Trevor Rosenthal struck out the side in the ninth for a save, whiffing Daniel Nava with a 99 mph fastball to end it.

All three St. Louis pitchers were 23 or younger.

"It doesn't surprise me. Those guys got talent," Molina said. "Like I said before many times, they're not afraid to pitch."

Seeking its second championship title in three seasons, St. Louis improved to 7-0 this post-season when scoring first and stopped Boston's World Series winning streak at nine.

Fielding failures

That run began with a sweep of the Cardinals in 2004, when St. Louis never led the entire Series.

A night after the Cardinals made three errors in the opener and allowed the Red Sox to romp 8-1, the fielding failures were on the other side.

Lackey, pitching a day after his 35th birthday, returned this year after missing all of 2012 due to elbow surgery and beat Cy Young Award winners David Price and Justin Verlander in the AL playoffs. In his first Series appearance since his Game 7 win 11 years earlier, he couldn't hold a 2-1 lead.

David Freese walked with one out in the seventh and Jon Jay singled. Breslow relieved, and the Cardinals pulled off a double steal as pinch-runner Pete Kozma swiped third — an uncharacteristically aggressive move for the Cardinals, who ranked last in the NL with 45 stolen bases this year.

Daniel Descalso, who started at shortstop after Kozma made two errors in the opener, loaded the bases with a walk. Carpenter followed with a fly to medium left, and Jonny Gomes' throw home was slightly to the first-base side of the plate as Kozma scored the tying run.

Saltalamacchia allowed the throw to glance off his glove as Jay took off for third. Backing up the plate, Breslow was slow to throw and then sailed the ball over shortstop Stephen Drew covering third. The ball bounced into the stands as Jay came home with the go-ahead run.

"I'm sure Craig would like to have that ball back and hold it with a chance to shut down the inning right there," Red Sox manager John Farrell said. "Uncharacteristic of the way I think we've taken care of the baseball this year. And it contributed to the three runs."

Beltran, making his first Series appearance at age 36, singled to right for a two-run lead. The eight-time All-Star was sent to a hospital for scans Wednesday night after bruising ribs while banging into the right-field fence to rob Ortiz of a grand slam.

Beltran plays through pain

Beltran said he was given painkillers, and he appeared to be wearing protective padding under his jersey.

"We were all kind of sitting around waiting to see how things would turn out today," Matheny said. "But obviously he feels pretty good. He was moving well, too."

Matt Holliday, whose ninth-inning solo homer in the opener avoided a shutout, led off the fourth by driving a 92 mph fastball to the deepest part of Fenway Park, near the 420-foot sign below the triangle section of the bleachers in right-centre. The ball hit with a thud off the low fence on the side of the Boston bullpen, ricocheting across toward straightaway centre.

Matt Adams lined to second baseman Dustin Pedroia, who made a diving catch with the infield halfway in. Molina followed with a bouncer over the 6-foot-6 Lackey that was grabbed by Pedroia, who realized his only play was to first as Holliday scored.

Ortiz erased that with his 17th career post-season homer and fifth this October, pouncing when Wacha left an 85 mph changeup in the middle of the strike zone.

"We've got to go out there and play better than we did tonight," Ortiz said. "Nobody can dictate that you're going to win four straight games every time you go out there for the World Series."

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Did You See That? Beltran injured on grand slam-saving catch

Video

Slugger leaves Game 1 of World Series with rib injury

By Rod Perry, CBC Sports Posted: Oct 23, 2013 10:47 PM ET Last Updated: Oct 24, 2013 9:13 AM ET

Carlos Beltran may want to forget and remember his long-awaited World Series debut at the same time. 

The 16-year MLB veteran, known for his post-season heroics, made a grand slam-saving catch in Game 1 of the Fall Classic Wednesday night but wound up with bruised ribs and an early trip to the showers. 

In the second inning with the bases loaded and the Boston Red Sox already up 4-0, Beltran tracked a ball off the bat of slugger David Ortiz to rob him of a bases-clearing homer — limiting Boston to just one run on the play — but crashed into the fence and injured his ribs on the play and left shortly thereafter.

He was taken to the hospital for X-Rays, which came back negative and manager Mike Matheny said he was day-to-day. 

Watch the play unfold by clicking the video above. 

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Red Sox crush Cardinals in Game 1 of World Series

Given a bit of help by the umpires and a lot more by the Cardinals, the Boston Red Sox turned this World Series opener into a laugher.

Mike Napoli hit a three-run double right after the umps reversed a blown call, Jon Lester made an early lead stand up and the Red Sox romped past sloppy St. Louis 8-1 Wednesday night for their ninth straight Series win.

A season before Major League Baseball is expected to expand instant replay, fans got to see a preview. The entire six-man crew huddled in the first inning and flipped a ruling on a forceout at second base — without looking at any video.

"I think based on their group conversation, surprisingly, to a certain extent, they overturned it and I think got the call right," Boston manager John Farrell said.

Most everything went right for the Red Sox.

St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Adam Wainwright, rear left, watches as Boston Red Sox's Jonny Gomes, left, Jacoby Ellsbury, centre, and Dustin Pedroia, celebrate a three-run scoring double by Mike Napoli during the first inning of Game 1 of the World Series in Boston on Wednesday. (Charlie Riedel/The Associated Press)

David Ortiz was robbed of a grand slam by Carlos Beltran — a catch that sent the star right fielder to a hospital with bruised ribs — but Big Papi later hit a two-run homer following third baseman David Freese's bad throw.

The Red Sox also capitalized on two errors by shortstop Pete Kozma to extend a Series winning streak that began when they swept St. Louis in 2004. Boston never trailed at any point in those four games and, thanks to this hideous display by the Cardinals, coasted on a rollicking night at Fenway Park.

It got so bad for St. Louis that the sellout crowd literally laughed when pitcher Adam Wainwright and catcher Yadier Molina, who've combined to win six Gold Gloves, let an easy popup drop untouched between them.

Serious-minded St. Louis manager Mike Matheny didn't find anything funny, especially when the umpires gathered in the first and changed a call by Dana DeMuth at second base.

"Basically, the explanation is that's not a play I've ever seen before. And I'm pretty sure there were six umpires on the field that had never seen that play before, either," Matheny said.

"It's a pretty tough time to debut that overruled call in the World Series. Now, I get that trying to get the right call, I get that. Tough one to swallow," he said.

There was no dispute, however, that the umpires correctly ruled that Kozma had not caught a soft toss from second baseman Matt Carpenter on a potential forceout.

'Our job is to get it right'

"There's five of us out here, OK? And all five of us agreed 100 per cent that it wasn't a catch. Our job is to get it right," crew chief John Hirschbeck told Matheny on audio played on the Fox telecast.

The normally slick-fielding Cardinals looked sloppy at every turn. Wainwright bounced a pickoff throw, Molina let a pitch skitter off his mitt, centre fielder Shane Robinson bobbled the carom on Napoli's double and there was a wild pitch.

The Cardinal Way? More like, no way.

"We had a wakeup call. That is not the kind of team that we've been all season," Matheny said. "And they're frustrated. I'm sure embarrassed to a point."

Game 2 is Thursday night, with 22-year-old rookie sensation Michael Wacha starting for St. Louis against John Lackey. Wacha is 3-0 with a 0.43 ERA this post-season.

Beltran is day to day after X-rays were negative.

Lester blanked the Cardinals on five hits over 7 2-3 innings for his third win this post-season.

"He was locating both sides of the plate. His cutter is so tough on righties. He was pretty impressive tonight," Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia said.

Ryan Dempster gave up Matt Holliday's leadoff home run in the ninth.

Boston brought the beards and made it a most hairy night for St. Louis. The Cardinals wrecked themselves with just their second three-error game of the season.

The umpires made a mistake, too, but at least they got to fix it in a hurry.

After the control-conscious Wainwright walked leadoff man Jacoby Ellsbury, Pedroia singled him to second with one out.

Ortiz then hit a slow grounder to Carpenter, and it didn't appear the Cardinals could turn a double play. Hurrying, Kozma let the backhanded flip glance off his glove.

DeMuth instantly called Pedroia out, indicating that Kozma dropped the ball while trying to transfer it to his throwing hand. Farrell quickly popped out of the dugout to argue while Pedroia went to the bench.

"I was just trying to slide in there to break up two. I saw it wasn't on the transfer," Pedroia said. "They call you out, you have to run off. There's a lot of great umpires out there. They put their heads together and got it right and that's the most important thing."

Farrell argued with every umpire he could and must've made a persuasive case. As the fans hollered louder and louder as they studied TV replays, all the umpires gathered on the dirt near shortstop and conferred and decided there was no catch at all.

"It was pretty obvious it wasn't on the transfer. The umpires got the right call and we got some momentum," Ortiz said.

Pedroia came bounding from the dugout and suddenly, the bases were loaded in the first. Napoli unloaded them with a double that rolled to the Green Monster in left-centre.

Napoli, with maybe the bushiest beard of all, certainly picked up where he left off the last time he saw the Cardinals in October. In the 2011 Series, he hit .350 with two home runs and 10 RBIs as Texas lost in seven games to St. Louis.

The Red Sox added to their 3-0 lead with two more runs in the second. A fielding error by Kozma set up Pedroia's RBI single.

'I called it'

The whole inning got going when Stephen Drew's popup in front of the mound landed at Wainwright's feet, a step or two from Molina. The ace pitcher and the star catcher both hung their heads.

"I called it. I waited for someone else to take charge. That's not the way to play baseball. It was totally my error," Wainwright said.

Ortiz, who hit a tying grand slam at Fenway in the AL championship series win over Detroit, sent a long drive to right-centre. Beltran, playing in his first World Series, braced himself with one hand on the low wall in front of the bullpen and reached over with his glove to make the catch.

"At least I got an RBI and we were up four and got the momentum," Ortiz said.

Beltran hurt himself on the play and left in the third inning.

Ortiz homered in the seventh and the Red Sox got another run in the eighth on a sacrifice fly by 21-year-old rookie Xander Bogaerts.

While St. Louis stumbled, Boston made the key plays.

When the Cardinals tried to rally in the fourth and loaded the bases, Lester neatly started a home-to-first double play on Freese's comebacker to end the inning.

Left fielder Jonny Gomes lumbered for a diving catch to start the fifth. Drew finished off that inning, deftly handling a bouncer up the middle to strand runners at second and third.

Boston almost made a terrific play to finish the game. With two outs in the ninth, Freese hit a sharp single and right fielder Shane Victorino nearly threw him out at first base.

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Cardinals, Red Sox renew World Series rivalry

Lance Lynn squeezed through a door leading into the Green Monster, shimmied along a cramped space behind the famed left-field wall and peered out a tiny metal slot in the Fenway Park scoreboard.

''A little snug for me,'' the burly St. Louis Cardinals pitcher said.

Plenty of Cardinals got their first look at the century-old ballpark during a workout Tuesday, a day before they opened the World Series against the Boston Red Sox.

The Red Sox saw a neat sight, too. As they took batting practice at dusk, a giant, vibrant rainbow formed high in the sky beyond centre field. Slugger David Ortiz noticed.

''Oh, yeah,'' he said. ''It's a Dominican thing.''

Whatever, Big Papi. Something special always seems to happen when the Redbirds and Red Sox meet, from Stan the Man versus the Splendid Splinter to Gibby versus Yaz to Pedro versus Pujols.

Now they're set to meet for the fourth time in ''that Octobery kind of air,'' as Cardinals Game 1 starter Adam Wainwright described it.

Jon Lester will oppose him Wednesday night, facing a lineup that got a late boost. Allen Craig, who hit a major league-leading .454 with runners in scoring position but hasn't played since Sept. 4 because of sprained left foot, is set to return.

''I feel like I'm in a good spot,'' said the cleanup man, who will be the Cardinals designated hitter.

Weather could be a factor. Temperatures are supposed to dip and rain is in the forecast.

Boston was listed as a slim favourite in the matchup between teams that tied for the big-league lead in wins. The clubs haven't met in the regular season since 2008 and Red Sox speedster Jacoby Ellsbury is looking forward to this pairing that some are billing as the Beards versus the Birds.

''It will be exciting to see some unfamiliar faces,'' he said.

'I'm aware of the history'

Dustin Pedroia, Mike Napoli and many of their scraggly Boston teammates figure to get a good look at the Cardinals' crop of young arms, led by post-season ace Michael Wacha and relievers Trevor Rosenthal, Carlos Martinez and Kevin Siegrist.

Ortiz is the link to the Red Sox team that swept St. Louis in the 2004 World Series - Boston never trailed at any point - and ended an 86-year championship drought.

''Obviously, I'm aware of the history of the two teams,'' Ellsbury said. ''Once the first pitch happens, all that goes out the window.''

The Red Sox are trying to win their third crown in 10 years. St. Louis is aiming to take its second title in three years and third in eight seasons.

''Some of us have some pretty bad memories of being here in 2004 and we're looking to kind of right that ship,'' St. Louis manager Mike Matheny said.

Matheny was the Cardinals' catcher that year, backed up by rookie Yadier Molina. Now Molina is considered the best defensive catcher in baseball, charged with trying to stop Ellsbury and a Red Sox team that's run a lot in the postseason.

''It's fun to be part of this history, to be here in Fenway Park, to be part of this Series against Boston,'' Molina said. ''It's different to play here overall - playing defence, offence, pitching.

"It's different. But at the same time, it's fun.'' 

'I remember the comebacker'

David Freese grew up in St. Louis and became the most valuable player in the 2011 World Series. He heard about Stan Musial versus Ted Williams in 1946, knew about Bob Gibson facing Carl Yastrzemski in 1967 and recalled watching on TV when Red Sox reliever Keith Foulke fielded Edgar Renteria's tapper to finish things off 2004.

''I remember the comebacker that ended it [and] the sweep," the 30-year-old third baseman said. "You don't expect a World Series to end in four games."

Freese said he'd always hoped to get a chance to play at Fenway and he got his first look Tuesday.

After Matheny stood near the mound and pointed out the particulars of the dirt triangle in centre field, Freese stepped in for batting practice. He launched a long drive that hit high off the Green Monster in left-centre - the loud thwack echoing all around the ballpark.

''That's my wall ball,'' he hooted to teammate Matt Holliday.

Good for a hitter, maybe not so great for a pitcher.

''A ballgame can change with one swing of the bat in this ballpark,'' said Wacha, who also climbed into the wall.

''It's pretty crazy. Crazy dimensions, that's for sure.''

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Hamilton's John Axford completes comeback in World Series

MLB: L.A. Dodgers 0 at St. Louis 9 1:10

MLB: L.A. Dodgers 0 at St. Louis 9 1:10

John Axford has come a long way in just a few months.

The Ancaster, Ont., resident began this baseball season losing his job as closer with the Milwaukee Brewers to a fellow Canadian. Axford's going to end the season with the St. Louis Cardinals pitching in the World Series.

Born in Simcoe, Ont., Axford is affectionately known as the Ax Man. That's probably got something to do with a blazing fastball that Brewer fans got to know late in the 2010 season when he replaced future Hall of Famer Trevor Hoffman as the Brewers closer. In 2011 he converted 46 saves, including a franchise record 43 in a row, as the Brewers won their first division title since 1982.

After a rough start to the 2013 season Axford had been replaced as closer by Calgary's Jim Henderson. And by August  he was out of town, traded to the Cardinals.

The trade worked out well for Axford and the Cardinals. Wednesday night, Axford could be making his World Series debut against the Boston Red Sox.

"It does not seem like the same season for me," Axford told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "So much has happened. The season itself is so long with spring training and everything. We had the World Baseball Classic. It just doesn't seem the same to me."

"I've been here for two months now and have gotten to know these guys real well and be accepted into the Cardinal family," said Axford.

"It took more time on my side, just becoming accustomed to the different personalities and getting used to the guys. But I felt accepted right away. That was great."

He's off to a good start in St. Louis. In 13 appearances, he went 1-0 with a 1.74 earned-run average. He struck out 11 batters in 10 1/3 innings pitched. He's given up one run, a home run, in 3 1/3 innings in the 2013 playoffs so far.

The Brewers signed the six-foot-five, 195-pound Axford as a free agent in March 2008 and assigned him to Brevard County of the Florida State League, where he sported a 4.55 ERA in 26 games, including 14 starts.

Milwaukee made Axford a full-time reliever in 2009 and it paid off as he fashioned a 1.63 ERA in 19 appearances and fanned 43 batters in 27 2/3 innings before earning promotions to AA Huntsville and AAA Nashville later that season.

Boasting a 97 mile-per-hour fastball, Axford collected eight victories and converted 24 of 27 save chances in 50 games with the Brewers in 2010. He also had a 2.48 ERA, struck out 76 batters in 58 innings pitched and held opposing batters to a .201 average.

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Bryan Price tabbed as new Reds manager

The Reds stayed in-house for their next manager, choosing pitching coach Bryan Price to replace Dusty Baker on Tuesday, according to a person familiar with the decision.

The club planned to introduce the 51-year-old Price at a news conference later in the day. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because no announcement had been made.

The job comes with enormous expectations for Price, who has been one of the most successful pitching coaches in the majors but has never managed at any level.

Baker led the Reds to three 90-win seasons and three playoff appearances in the last four years, but Cincinnati got knocked out in the first round of the post-season each time.

The Reds fired Baker with a year left on his contract after a final-week fade that included an implosion by the pitching staff. Cincinnati lost its last six games, including a 6-2 defeat at PNC Park in the wild-card playoff against the Pirates. General manager Walt Jocketty said the closing slump was a major factor in the decision to change managers.

Baker led the Reds to their best stretch of success since Sparky Anderson managed the Big Red Machine to World Series titles in the 1970s. Price will be expected to keep Cincinnati winning deep into the playoffs in 2014 with the core of the team under contract.

Like Baker, he has an even-keel personality. Unlike Baker, he comes to the job with no previous managing experience.

Price was a left-handed pitcher for six years in the minors, his career scuttled by elbow surgery. He started his coaching career in Seattle's farm system and was the Mariners' pitching coach from 2000-05. He moved to Arizona as pitching coach from 2006-09, resigning there after Bob Melvin was replaced.

Jocketty hired him to replace Dick Pole in Cincinnati, where he helped the Reds' staff develop into one of the National League's best during his four seasons working with Baker. Now, Jocketty has several important lineup decisions to make to try to keep the Reds competitive in the NL Central, which sent three teams to the playoffs.

Division champion St. Louis opens the World Series against Boston on Wednesday (7:30 p.m. ET). The Pirates passed up the Reds for second place and home-field advantage for the wild-card playoff during the final week of the season.

The pitching staff will have some changes in the off-season, with starter Bronson Arroyo eligible for free agency after completing his contract. Left-hander Tony Cingrani made his debut last season and showed he could win in the majors, but was sidelined by back problems in September. Ace Johnny Cueto missed most of the season with shoulder problems.

The Reds have to decide whether to keep left-hander Aroldis Chapman as their closer or move him into a starting role.

The offence struggled last season with no consistent right-handed hitter.

Cleanup hitter Ryan Ludwick tore cartilage in his right shoulder on a slide on opening day and missed most of the season. He hit only two homers after his return in mid-August, with the shoulder still bothering him. Brandon Phillips drove in 100 runs for the first time in his career, but no other right-handed hitter produced runs with any consistency.

Joey Votto and leadoff hitter Shin-Soo Choo led the NL in on-base percentage, but Choo is a free agent. Billy Hamilton created a sensation with his speed when he was called up in September, but struggled to get on base consistently in triple-A before his first promotion to the majors.

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Red Sox call on Jon Lester to start World Series opener

Ortiz to start at 1st base at least once in St. Louis

The Associated Press Posted: Oct 21, 2013 4:36 PM ET Last Updated: Oct 21, 2013 4:36 PM ET

Red Sox left-hander Jon Lester will start Game 1 of the World Series against the visiting St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday (7:30 p.m. ET).

That's the word on Monday from Boston manager John Farrell.

Farrell says he hasn't decided on his entire lineup, but designated hitter David Ortiz will start at least once at first base when the series shifts to St. Louis for the middle three games.

There is no designated hitter allowed in the National League park, meaning Ortiz will have to play the field for just the seventh time this season.

The Red Sox worked out Monday, two days after eliminating the Detroit Tigers in Game 6 of the AL Championship Series.

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Current, future stars abundant in Red Sox-Cardinals World Series

Big Papi, Dustin Pedroia and the bearded guys from Boston. Michael Wacha, Trevor Rosenthal and those fresh mugs from St. Louis.

Pretty neat face-off in this World Series.

Cardinals-Red Sox, once again in October. Fully rested, they'll start Wednesday night at Fenway Park with Boston opening as a slim favourite.

Post-season stars from past and present — Carlos Beltran, David Freese, John Lackey, David Ortiz and Adam Wainwright.

Juicy plotlines — can Gold Glove catcher Yadier Molina shut down Jacoby Ellsbury and the runnin' Red Sox? Can all-world closer Koji Uehara stop Matt Holliday and the Cardinals?

Plus, plenty of history — think Stan Musial vs. Ted Williams in 1946, Bob Gibson vs. Carl Yastrzemski in '67 or Pedro Martinez vs. Albert Pujols in 2004. Or, perhaps more memorably that last time, Curt Schilling and the bloody sock vs. The Curse. 

'Watching them last night, they've got a fantastic team. And a lot of young power arms that will walk to that mound.'- Red Sox manager John Farrell on Cardinals

The Red Sox and Cardinals are hardly arch enemies, however. They haven't played since Kevin Youkilis homered over the Green Monster in the 13th inning on June 22, 2008.

This year, Boston and St. Louis bounced back from disappointments and tied for the most victories in the majors with 97. Not since the Braves and Yankees in 1999 have league win leaders met in the World Series (the Cardinals and Red Sox were the top-scoring teams in their leagues, too).

Mike Napoli, Shane Victorino and Boston's scraggly band rose under first-year manager John Farrell, a season after the team hit bottom under Bobby Valentine with its most losses in nearly five decades.

Matt Carpenter, Matt Adams and St. Louis rebounded a year after wasting a 3-1 lead in the NL championship series against the Giants. Manager Mike Matheny got lots of help from a rookie-laden staff.

Wacha was the MVP of the NLCS and is 3-0 with an 0.43 ERA in the post-season. Rosenthal took over the closer role with a 100 mph fastball. Shelby Miller, Carlos Martinez and others also made major contributions.

The Cardinals captured their 19th NL pennant by trouncing Clayton Kershaw and the Dodgers on Friday night in Game 6 of the NLCS.

"Watching them last night, they've got a fantastic team. And a lot of young power arms that will walk to that mound," Farrell said.

The Red Sox earned their 13th pennant Saturday night, riding Victorino's go-ahead grand slam to a 5-2 victory over Detroit in Game 6 of the ALCS. Uehara was the MVP with a win and three saves.

"It's been a special ride," Pedroia said, "and we're still going."

For Beltran, this will be his first time in the World Series. For the Cardinals, it's their fourth trip in 10 years.

For the Red Sox, it's their third Series visit in the last decade. And they hope for a repeat performance from 2004, when they never trailed during a four-game sweep of the Cardinals and won their first championship since 1918.

Johnny Damon playfully called his Boston teammates a bunch of "idiots" and Kevin Millar exhorting them to "Cowboy Up!" Manny Ramirez was the MVP of the series while Ortiz showed he was more than a slugger, switching from designated hitter to snazzy fielder at first base when the Series shifted to old Busch Stadium.

There are just a few leftovers from that fall.

Ortiz lined a key grand slam in this ALCS. Molina is now regarded as baseball's best defensive catcher — he was 21 in that '04 matchup and a backup to Matheny.

Now, their teams are set to meet for the fourth time in a World Series. Aside from Dodgers-Yankees, there hasn't been a more common pairing since that initial Red Sox-Cardinals meeting in 1946.

Here we go again.

"We've still got one more step," Victorino said.

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Tigers manager Jim Leyland resigns

Breaking

Detroit won 2 AL pennants under veteran skipper

By Doug Harrison, CBC Sports Posted: Oct 21, 2013 11:37 AM ET Last Updated: Oct 21, 2013 11:46 AM ET

Veteran major league manager Jim Leyland's tenure with the Detroit Tigers is ending on a low.

The 68-year-old stepped down Monday after Boston eliminated the Tigers from the best-of-seven American League Championship Series with a 5-2 win in Game 6 on Saturday night.

Detroit won the AL Central division three years in a row and two AL pennants under Leyland, who spent eight seasons with the Tigers.

He had been working under one-year contracts the past couple years and was content to wait until after the season to address his status.

Leyland has been a manager for 22 years, compiling a 1,769-1,728 record. Leyland won the 1997 World Series with the-then Florida Marlins.

More to come

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