So the Cardinals did do what they set out to do, which was to avoid losing the Series in their hometown. While a large part of me always roots for Boston teams to get upset, I also kind of just want to see the Red Sox rally and pull this out now. That last game was preeeeetty ugly. We head back to Fenway for the Monday, October 18th game: Jimmy McCauley (0-0, 9.00) is the veteran glue of this rotation and he'll be called upon to pick up his first win tonight or at least not keep giving up a run an inning the way he has been. He's a 4-time champ with St. Louis but his career playoff record is only 1-1, 6.53. He's up against Michael Pesco (2-0, 2.42), who feels like he's been around forever but is seeing his first postseason action of his career this year at age 27. It's partly cloudy and 54 - we are in the latter half of October after all - with the wind blowing in from center at 11mph.
For St. Louis, additionally, as they're up against a lefty I'll pull Jim James in favor of the veteran Elijah Johnson in center field. I don't think I'll touch the other lefties in the lineup. Boston's Jeremy Dolak has a mild abdominal strain from the game the other night and since Sid Bartoszek is a very adequate backup he'll get his first start of the postseason. Kristian Schneider, too, is suffering from knee soreness and to replace him - and in an effort to get some hits from the middle-bottom of the lineup - I'll bring in Troy Carmer for him today.
Top 1st: Elijah Johnson pops it up into right-center. Jun Kim is on his horse and gets there for the out. Tom Depew hits a groundball to 2B Brian Long for a 4-3 putout. Casey Satterfield knocks a 2-out base hit into right-center that's fielded on a hop by CF Jon Glynn. He's hitting .351 in the postseason now. Lorenzo Martinez grounds out to Oniji Handa to retire the side. 0-0.
Bottom 1st: Jon Glynn grounds out weakly to Mike Galeana at third base. Brian Long hits a ball a lot harder toward Galeana but the result is the same, a 5-3 putout. Mike Miller breaks out of a mini-slump with a 2 out single into right. That's followed by yet another hit by Tom Brown that gets Miller all the way to third as he takes the base on Casey Satterfield. Nothing against Casey but he's out there primarily for the bat, not the glove. That brings up Troy Carmer, who very nearly gets a hit in his first at-bat but CF Elijah Johnson chases it down and makes a shoestring catch for the final out of the inning. 0-0.
Top 2nd: Galeana flies out to center field. Rafael Disla raps a single back through the box that CF Jon Glynn handles on a couple of hops for a base hit. Pesco gets his first strikeout of the game, a called third strike on a 2-2 cutter. Dusty McCully hits one kind of hard to left - in Fenway everything hit to left looks dangerous - and it's caught on the warning track by LF Troy Brown. 0-0.
Bottom 2nd: Kim draws a leadoff walk. I feel like cheering every time he manages to do something is giving him a complex so I won't. Oniji Handa raises his October average to .229 on a single up the middle... but Kim tries to take 3rd on the play and Elijah Johnson is having nothing to do with it! He's thrown out! Handa reaches 2nd on the play. Sid Bartoszek whiffs. Michael Pesco slaps a 1-1 split-fingered fastball back up the middle for a base hit. This time Elijah Johnson's throw back to the infield is off line and Oniji Handa scores! 1-0. Jon Glynn works out a walk off a full count. Brian Long strikes out to retire the side with just the one run scored. 1-0, Red Sox.
Top 3rd: Jimmy McCauley hits a weak grounder to 2nd for the first out. Elijah Johnson grounds out to Troy Carmer over at third base. Oniji Handa catches up to a hard grounder up the middle by Tom Depew and although his throw to first is low, Mike Miller is able to dig it out for the 6-3 groundout and a 1-2-3 inning. 1-0, Red Sox.
Bottom 3rd: Mike Miller ends a 7 pitch at-bat with a called strike three. That's Jimmy McCauley's 3rd K. Troy Brown grounds out 4-3. Troy Carmer skies one into right; Casey Satterfield walks over around 15 feet to catch it for the final out. 1-0, Red Sox.
Top 4th: Casey Satterfield stares at a 2-2 cutter for strike three. Lorenzo Martinez singles up the middle. He is a lefty but he's also one of the best power hitters in the National League. Pesco next gets Mike Galeana to pull the ripcord on a 2-2 cut fastball that winds up in the dirt. With first base occupied, no throw to 1st is necessary even though Sid Bartoszek didn't catch it cleanly. Rafael Disla hits a weak grounder to 3rd that Troy Carmer takes to 2nd for the inning-ending 5-4 forceout. 1-0, Red Sox.
Bottom 4th: Kim hits it weakly to Tom Depew at 2nd, who throws it to first in more than enough time for the out. Oniji Handa flies to center. Sid Bartoszek hits a ball into left that just gets down in front of Rafael Disla; he's on at first with the two-out single. Michael Pesco lifts one into center but Elijah Johnson jogs over and makes the catch for out #3. 1-0, Red Sox.
Top 5th: Stuart grounds out to Mike Miller, who takes it to first base himself for the unassisted putout. Dusty McCully grounds to third; he's now hitting only .208 in October. That brings up Jimmy McCauley, who's been just fine today and is only at 71 pitches so I'm not going to pull him for a PH. He singles to right. I mean, I was half hoping he'd go out so we'd reset the lineup but this works too. Elijah Johnson makes it back to back singles to right; McCauley, being both a pitcher and a man in his mid-30s, doesn't move past 2nd. Tom Depew flies out harmlessly into left field to end the mini-rally. 1-0, Red Sox.
Bottom 5th: Jon Glynn, hitting .105 for the month with a .146 OBP, flies out to fairly deep but not too deep right field. Brian Long hits a lazy looper into right-center that gets past Casey Satterfield and hits the wall! He's in standing up with a double, his 3rd of the postseason. Mike Miller hits a roller up the first base line that Lorenzo Martinez fields while practically standing on the bag. Brian Long chugs over to 3rd and so the Sox have a man 90 feet away from the plate with 2 out. That brings up Tom Brown, who actually for once does not come through in the clutch; he strikes out swinging to retire the side. 1-0, Red Sox.
Top 6th: Casey Satterfield grounds one to Troy Carmer at third, who throws across the diamond for out #1. Lorenzo Martinez hits a routine groundball to 2B Brian Long for the 2nd out. Mike Galeana knocks one into left that Tom Brown catches just short of the Green Monster to make it a 1-2-3 inning. 1-0, Red Sox.
Bottom 6th: Carmer grounds out to his counterpart Mike Galeana, 5-3. Jun Kim swings and misses at a 1-2 fastball. That's McCauley's 5th of the contest and it drops Kim to a .111 October BA. Oniji Handa drops an Ichiro down in front of the plate and, like the real-life guy, reaches first on an infield single. Sid Bartoszek works the count to full and then takes a low and outside fastball for ball 4. No way am I removing Michael Pesco right now so we'll have to live with the out. Pesco does ground out to second, kind of hard but it's still a 4-3 groundout. 1-0, Red Sox.
Top 7th: Disla hits a leadoff single that RF Jun Kim catches on one hop. However, he's pretty much immediately erased because a hard grounder by John Stuart turns into a 4-6-3 double play. Dusty McCully's not hitting but why pinch-hit for him now? He gives me another reason why not as he lines a ball into the right-center gap for a 2-out double. That brings up Jimmy McCauley, who, much as I like the way he's pitching, absolutely needs to be pinch-hit for now. Dylan Dockery, 1-3 so far as a playoff pinch-hitter, comes in for him. He hits a flare into right field that Jun Kim catches on the run for the final out. 1-0, Red Sox.
Bottom 7th: It's definitely Billy Munoz time, as the Cardinals ace makes his 7th postseason appearance. He's pitched 9 innings in October with 7 hits allowed, 3 walks, 8 strikeouts, and 3 runs, all of them earned. Also, he's got 4 saves, although this is categorically not a save situation. I let Glynn stay in to hit - we need that defense - and he just about gets one past Mike Galeana; however, Galeana does pick it and throw to first for the out. Brian Long flies out to center. Mike Miller grounds out towards the middle; Dusty McCully is able to get to it in time to make the throw for a 6-3 putout and a 1-2-3 7th. 1-0, Red Sox.
Top 8th: We're down to brass tacks. The top of the order is up for the Cards here and Michael Pesco still looks good but is up to 111 pitches so won't last forever. Johnson hits one high and deep but CF Jon Glynn was playing him kind of deep so he's able to pull it down near the centerfield warning track for the out. Tom Depew hits a grounder to 2nd and we've got 2 gone in the top of the 8th. Casey Satterfield hits another one that dies on the left field warning track for out #3. 1-0, Red Sox, and the Cardinals are down to their final three outs of the season.
Bottom 8th: Tom Brown flies to center. It's a mark of how he's hit this month that him being 1-4 tonight feels like a slump. Troy Carmer hits one towards short. Dusty McCully has to go to the outfield grass to take it on two hops and then throws out Carmer by a step. Sam Marks is in to pinch-hit for Jun Kim; he flies out to RF Casey Satterfield to retire the side. 1-0, Red Sox.
Top 9th: Tom Brown moves into right to accommodate Marks, who takes over in left field. Pesco had a pretty easy inning but is still at 125 pitches. As well as he's pitching, though, and with 2 lefties due to face him this inning, I'm going to leave him in. Lorenzo Martinez slams one towards the right-field line. 1B Mike Miller manages to catch the hot groundball but can't get it to Pesco in time and Lorenzo Martinez is on with a leadoff base hit! Mike Galeana belts his 7th HR of the postseason into the short right field porch! The Cardinals are in the lead! I don't believe it! Stubbornly, I leave Pesco in to face the left-handed batting Rafael Disla and he gets the hitter to fly to center for the 2nd out. John Stuart grounds to 3rd for 2 out. Pesco walks Dusty McCully and that means Billy Munoz will come up... or at least get pinch-hit for with C Jose Medina. The Red Sox wait for the swap to pull Pesco, who couldn't quiiiiiite get over the hump: 8.2 IP, 1 walk, 3 Ks, 9 hits, and 2 runs allowed thanks to that Galeana jack.
Bubba Touchton takes the mound to try and get the last out. He's also due up in the bottom of the inning and so this may very well be the only batter he faces. Medina grounds out 6-3. The damage, though, has been done and suddenly the Cardinals are 3 outs away from forcing a Game 7.
Bottom 9th: Rick Legere (1-2, 6.23) is in to try and earn his 1st save in October. As implied by the ERA, he's gotten roughed up a little bit this postseason and has struggled to get easy outs via the K, with only 2 of them in 4.1 IP over 4 games. Oniji Handa leads off against him with a grounder to the left of Tom Depew; the 2nd baseman is able to pick it up and make the throw for the first out. Sid Bartoszek is basically the only catcher right now so he has to remain in the game; he strikes out swinging and the Sox are down to their final out. That's Matt Wilson, in to pinch-hit for Bubba Touchton. He's 0-6 in the postseason... make that 0-7 as he grounds out to Tom Depew to end it. 2-1, Cards!
Yikes! Will the Red Sox do the reverse of what they did IRL and blow a 3-0 World Series lead? Tune in, tuner inners, and find out!