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| (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images) |
Maybe it was the crowd. Maybe it was the big stage. Maybe it was the rainbow. But the normally solid Redbird defense fell apart in
World Series Game One—resulting in three errors that each led to Red Sox runs in
an 8-1 Boston victory. After a gaggle of umpires convened and reversed a horrendous call in the first inning,
Mike Napoli made St. Louis pay for their
first error with a three-run double. A miraculous catch by
Carlos Beltran robbed
David Ortiz of yet
another grand slam in the second inning—but Boston still added two more runs. With a 5-0 lead,
Jon Lester delivered a workmanlike 7 2/3 inning performance—getting stronger as the game went on and yielding no runs while striking out eight. Papi added some padding with a two-run HR and a pinch-hitting
Daniel Nava doubled and scored another run on a
Xander Bogaerts sacrifice fly.
Dustin Pedroia had two hits and scored twice. All in all, it was a typically opportunistic Red Sox team—but also one whose bats finally woke up in the postseason. With their
ninth straight World Series win, Boston leads the series 1-0, and needs but three more wins for championship number eight.
