The St. Louis Cardinals could not hold serve at home in the World Series, losing two out of three games at Busch Stadium. The Boston Red Sox lead three games to two heading back to Fenway Park for games six and seven.
While winning the final two games is not an easy task, it is not an impossible one. The last three teams to be trailing 3-2 in the World Series best-of-seven format have come back to win it all. The 2001 Arizona Diamondbacks, 2002 Anaheim Angels, and…2011 St. Louis Cardinals have come out on top trailing after game five.
That sounds great, but those three teams won the final two games of the Fall Classic at home. History has a cruel way of presenting itself.
The St. Louis Cardinals are projected to see John Lackey on the mound game six, and Jake Peavy game seven, if necessary. The Cards’ two wins came against Lackey and Peavy, but the offense had little success against the former.
St. Louis is having an issue hitting, especially left-handed pitching. Jon Lester pitched 15+ innings of one run ball, and long reliever Felix Doubront has shut down the Cards twice through five games in relief. With right-handed hitting staples such as Yadier Molina, Matt Holliday, Allen Craig, and switch-hitting Carlos Beltran, it is shocking that St. Louis ranked an abysmal 26th in on-base plus slugging during the regular season.
The 2013 World Series has been nothing short of interesting so far. Both teams have thrown away games, and managers John Farrell and Mike Matheny have made questionable and brilliant decisions at integral points during the series. Matheny has chosen to pitch to David Ortiz, who is hitting a robust .733 and has had key hits in three games. Matheny has also chosen to let regular season darlings Shelby Miller and Edward Mujica rot in the St. Louis Cardinals bullpen. Miller was easily their second best starting pitcher, and Mujica was their closer once Jason Motte was lost for the season.
John Farrell has shown he has managerial chops, despite not using his bench effectively in pinch-hitting situations. Having a deep bench has helped cover up a few blips made by Farrell. It will be interesting to see if he trusts Peavy for a second start if game seven happens. He did not last five innings and needed to pitch well with games on three consecutive nights.
The St. Louis Cardinals will have all hands on deck Wednesday night as they play the first of what they hope is two elimination games. Can they take some of the magic from 2011 on the road to force the best spectacle in all of sports? Rookie pitcher Michael Wacha takes the bump with the hopes of forcing the issue.
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