Who: St. Louis Cardinals vs. Boston Red Sox
Where: Fenway Park, Boston
When: 8:07 PM, ET – FOX
Series record: 3-2, Boston
For the first time in nearly a century (95 years, if you’re counting), with a win in Game 6 of the 2013 World Series, the Boston Red Sox will crown themselves champions in their own city.
While the Red Sox have played in a handful of World Series’ since 1900 and have come away victorious in a few, the team has not celebrated a World Series Championship in front of their home crowd since 1918.
That pressure will be laid upon the shoulders of Game 2 starter, John Lackey, who will attempt to pitch the Red Sox to their third World Series victory in the past decade.
Opposing Lackey will be young Michael Wacha, who in turn will be attempting to give the St. Louis Cardinals one more day, resulting in a winner-take-all Game 7 scenario.
Wacha, who also started Game 2 has been nearly flawless throughout the 2013 postseason, shutting down team after team. Wacha even had things rolling against the Red Sox earlier in the series before David Ortiz popped a two-run home run over the Green Monster. To put into perspective how fantastic Wacha has been, those two runs were more than the rookie arm had given up in his prior three postseason starts. Wacha will need to be on his game if he is to extend the Cardinals season.
Looking to end it will be the aforementioned Lackey who pitched in relief during Boston’s Game 4 victory. That inning of relief helped Lackey’s statistics, which were marginal after his Game 2 start where he gave up three earned runs in 6.1 innings of work. Lackey has seemingly been hit or miss for the Red Sox during the postseason, though with the season near its conclusion, it’s doubtful either manager will allow their pitchers to struggle very much.
Offensively, we’ll see the return of the designated hitter, which is welcome news for both teams. Allen Craig, who did actually start in the field for Game 5 will shift back to his designated hitter role, allowing Matt Adams to play. Meanwhile, David Ortiz will return to his prized designated hitter, giving Mike Napoli his starting first base job back.
Johnny Gomes is also expected to start for Boston while Shane Victorino is expected to return to the starting lineup after missing the previous two games with a back injury.
The prize is simple – it’s win or go home for the Cardinals, while the Red Sox are nine innings away from becoming World Champions.