Cardinals Lose 8-1 in Game 1; Wacha to Take the Mound in Game 2
The St. Louis Cardinals played a sloppy Game 1 of the World Series on Wednesday night, dropping the game 8-1 to the Red Sox in Fenway Park. A series of bad fielding decisions and a crucial overturned out call at second base in the second inning ultimately decided the game.
“All the things that happened tonight can be attributed to me going out there and setting a terrible tone,” Cardinals starting pitcher Adam Wainwright said. “A starting pitcher has the ability to lose a game in minutes. He can also completely dominate the game so that the other team has no chance. Tonight, with the way Lester threw the ball, I lost the game in minutes. When you’re on this stage and you pitch bad, you need to stand up and take the blame. I can shoulder that load, because I know for a fact that I will use this game to make me better. I have no problem saying I stunk tonight, because I know I’ll be better next time.”
The controversial call in the second inning came when Boston’s Dustin Pedroia slid into second base but was called out despite the ball ricocheting out of the glove of the Cardinals’ Pete Kozma. However, the umps convened and overruled it, and Boston’s Mike Napoli immediately hit a three-run double to clear the bases.
“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.
“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,” Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. “It’s a pretty tough time to debut that overruled call in the World Series. Now, I get that they’re trying to get the right call, I get that. Tough one to swallow.”
The Cardinals will now send flamethrowing rookie Michael Wacha to the mound tonight to face Boston’s reliable veteran John Lackey. Despite all the setbacks in Game 1, including Carlos Beltran bruising his ribs on the outfield wall and being listed as day to day moving forward, the Cardinals could knot up the series with a clutch performance from their star rookie.
“We’ve all seen how the postseason can be dominated by pitching,” St. Louis second baseman Matt Carpenter said. “Everybody here has good starting pitching, and that’s how they outlast the 162-game grind to get to the postseason. At the same time, we really haven’t hit as good as we possibly could.”
Here are the odds and trends for tonight’s pivotal Game 2 matchup at Fenway Park.
World Series Game 2: St. Louis Cardinals vs. Boston Red Sox
St. Louis Cardinals: +110 Moneyline Underdogs
St. Louis Cardinals Trends
- St. Louis is 13-5 SU in its last 18 games
- St. Louis is 2-5 SU in its last 7 games on the road
- The total has gone OVER in 7 of St. Louis’s last 10 games on the road
- The total has gone UNDER in 7 of St. Louis’s last 10 games when playing Boston
- St. Louis is 2-4 SU in its last 6 games when playing on the road against Boston
- The total has gone OVER in 6 of St. Louis’s last 9 games when playing on the road against Boston
Boston Red Sox Trends
- Boston is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games
- The total has gone OVER in 11 of Boston’s last 16 games
- Boston is 6-1 SU in its last 7 games at home
- The total has gone OVER in 4 of Boston’s last 6 games at home
- The total has gone UNDER in 7 of Boston’s last 10 games when playing St. Louis
- Boston is 4-2 SU in its last 6 games when playing at home against St. Louis
- The total has gone OVER in 6 of Boston’s last 9 games when playing at home against St. Louis
