2013 World Series Participants Confirmed

And then there were two: the Red Sox and Cardinals will contest the 2013 World Series

The Boston Red Sox will play the St. Louis Cardinals in the 109th World Series, beginning Wednesday at Fenway Park in Boston.

Fittingly, the two teams finished with the best record in their respective leagues this past regular season, setting up a dream matchup for the Commissioner’s Trophy.

The series marks the fourth time these two historic clubs have met in the Fall Classic and the first since the Red Sox swept the Cardinals in 2004 to win their first World Series championship in 86 years.

Boston advances to the World Series having dispatching the Detroit Tigers in six games in the American League Championship Series, winning Saturday’s Game 6 by a final score of 5-2.

St. Louis meanwhile defied the bookmakers’ odds and got the better of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Championship Series. As with the ALCS, that series was wrapped up in six games, with the Cardinals decisively winning Friday’s finale 9-0.

Neither side was particularly fancied ahead of the season. On opening day (Mar. 31), St. Louis had odds of 22/1 of winning the World Series, ranking the club 13th out of 30. Boston meanwhile was an even longer shot, entering the season ranked 15th with 33/1 odds to lift the Commissioner’s Trophy.

Both teams quickly proved their worth though, racking up win after win. By the All-Star break on July 17, both were considered legitimate contenders. St. Louis was favored to win the National League pennant and 7/1 to win the World Series, sitting just behind Detroit. Boston sat narrowly behind the Tigers in the AL pennant race and was considered fourth in the World Series race with odds of 15/4.

As the season drew to a close both clubs finished the regular season with a MLB-best record of 97-65. Boston entered the postseason as favorite to take the AL pennant, while St. Louis was expected to come up short against the Dodgers.

With the culmination of the divisional round  – which saw St. Louis eliminate NL Central rivals the Pittsburgh Pirates and Boston dispatch AL East adversaries the Tampa Bay Rays – bookmakers still had the Dodgers as favorites, while a World Series matchup between Boston and St. Louis was assigned 11/4 odds. Only a Detroit-St. Louis matchup (7/2) was considered less likely.

The Red Sox did as expected while the Cardinals topped the Dodgers behind some exceptional pitching and a grittiness that should see the Red Birds put up more of a fight than back in 2004.

St. Louis holds a 2-1 record against Boston in World Series play. The Cardinals won both the 1946 World Series and the 1967 World Series in seven games. The Red Sox swept the Cardinals in the 2004 World Series, eighty sixing an 86 year championship drought.

Winners of 11 of 18 previous World Series appearances, the Cardinals are the most successful club in baseball outside of the New York Yankees (27 championships). With a 19th World Series appearance in 2013, the Cardinals are now tied with the San Francisco Giants (formerly New York Giants) for second most appearances in the Fall Classic, behind only the Yankees’ 40 appearances.

St. Louis will be appearing in its third World Series in eight years, having won it all in 2006 and 2011.

Boston is no slouch in the World Series stakes either. The Red Sox have won seven of 11 previous appearances, tying the club with the Giants for fourth place on the list of championships won, behind the Yankees (27), Cardinals (11), and Oakland Athletics (9).

Boston will be appearing in its third World Series in 10 years and first since a 4-0 sweep of the Colorado Rockies in 2007.

Get St. Louis Cardinals vs. Boston Red Sox Game 1 odds and trends now.

The American League’s 3-0 victory in the 2013 Major League Baseball All-Star Game ensured that the American League champion would enter the series with home field advantage.

Subsequently, Boston has been installed as the series favorite with odds of 5/7.

The underdog Cardinals have been assigned 6/5 odds of winning the World Series.

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BettingSports.com will have you covered with all of the odds and trends as the World Series progresses. We’ll bring you extensive World Series coverage, starting with Wednesday’s Game 1 and going all the way to Game 7 if necessary.

2013 World Series Schedule

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