On Oct. 24, the Cardinals defeated the Boston Red Sox to even the series to a 1-1 tie. The Cardinals won the crucial road game 4-2, in Boston, Mass. While in the first game the Cardinals were blown out 8-1, the team rallied behind their group of young pitchers.
The starter, Michael Wacha, went six innings of dominate pitching while only giving up two runs. After the win, the rookie improved to a ludicrous 4-0 record in the playoffs. After Wacha gave up only two runs, the manager, Mike Matheny, made the decision to pull him Wacha in favor of two young rookies. He first brought in Carlos Martinez to pitch the seventh and eighth innings. Martinez didn’t give up any runs in his two innings of work, and it was in the seventh inning that the Cardinals capitalized and drove in three wins to gain the lead. The runs were driven in by second basemen, Matt Carpenter, and veteran outfielder, Carlos Beltran.
All-star, Carlos Beltran was questionable to play the game on Thursday after suffering a rib injury the previous game. The 37 year old, playing in his first World Series, has hit a .273 batting average in the postseason so far and is making a case for the World Series Most Valuable Player Award.
With the Cardinals winning 4-2 in the bottom of the ninth, the team brought out the rookie closer, Trevor Rosenthal. In the playoffs so far, Rosenthal has yet to give up any runs, has an ERA of 0.00 and also has four saves. In the biggest game of his early career, the young gunner struck out all three of the batters he faced to close out the game for a win.
In a series where the teams must win four games to win the championship, getting a road win was critical. Now the teams head back to an electric Bush Stadium in St. Louis, to try to gain a lead in the series. While the team surely has offensive fire power from hitters, Carlos Beltran, Matt Holiday, Yadier Molina, and other countless hitters, the team will still be relying on an excellent performance from another of their young pitchers, Joe Kelly, and the rest of their remarkable pitching staff.
