Given a bit of help by the umpires and a lot more by the Cardinals, the Boston Red Sox turned the baseball World Series opener into a rout.
Mike Napoli hit a three-run double right after the umpires reversed a blown call and Jon Lester made an early lead stand up as the Red Sox romped past sloppy St Louis yesterday for their ninth straight win in a World Series.
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 capitalised 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 embarrassing display by the Cardinals, coasted on a rollicking night at Fenway Park in Boston.
It got so bad for St Louis that the sellout crowd 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 huddled in the first inning and flipped a call by Dana DeMuth at second base.
The six-man crew correctly ruled that Kozma had not caught a soft toss from second baseman Matt Carpenter on a slow grounder by Ortiz. A season before Major League Baseball employs full replay, fans got to see a wrong get righted.
The Cardinal Way? More like no way.
Game two is today, with 22-year-old rookie sensation Michael Wacha starting for St Louis against John Lackey. Wacha is 3-0 with an 0.43 ERA this post-season.
- AP