Red Sox Dominate Cardinals 8-1 in Game 1 of the World Series That Didn't Even Feel That Close

If you didn't know any better, you'd think that the Cardinals were the Rays or Tigers (from this postseason) given the countless amount of mistakes (mental and physical) they made in an 8-1 loss to the Red Sox tonight at Fenway Park in Game 1 of the World Series. Game 2 is tomorrow night (8:07, Fox) with John Lackey facing prized rookie Michael Wacha.

Jon Lester (1-0) is an ace in the playoffs, not so much in the regular season but who cares if he pitches like this in October? He went 7.2 scoreless innings, allowing only five hits with eight strikeouts and a walk. The supposedly unbeatable Adam Wainwright (0-1) was merely mortal, in five innings he allowed five runs (3 earned) on six hits with four strikeouts and a walk. St. Louis was charged with three errors (two by Pete Kozma) but that doesn't even include a popup that Wainwright and Yadier Molina let drop in front of them-the only way that Stephen Drew will ever get a hit.

After such a tight six-game series in the ALCS vs. Detroit, Boston went to many lengths to win their ninth World Series game in a row. Primetime Mike Napoli had a three-run double in the first then the Red Sox added two more runs in the second on an RBI single by Dustin Pedroia (2 hits, 2 runs). Ortiz wasn't finished as he clubbed a two-run homer in the seventh for a commanding 7-0 advantage.

Xander Bogaerts had a sacrifice fly in the eighth which made it 8-0 but Matt Holliday (2 hits) showed some pride by hitting a solo homer in the ninth so the Cardinals avoided the shutout.

Besides the beating, the main storylines coming from this lopsided victory was the health of Clay Buchholz and Carlos Beltran. Buchholz was moved back to starting Game 4 (we'll believe it when we see it) so Jake Peavy gets the ball in Game 3 while Beltran ran into the right field wall in the third to rob Ortiz of another grand slam but he left with a rib contusion.

Wacha has been great in the postseason but it's a tough spot to put a rookie in: against an experienced guy like Lackey and down 1-0 in the series on the road. There is no way that St. Louis can make nearly as many mistakes the rest of the series but then again, we said something like that during the ALDS and ALCS. Oh by the way, Boston has won its last nine World Series games dating back to 2004 vs. St. Louis.

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