The St. Louis Cardinals and the Boston Red Sox split the first two games of the World Series, paving the way for an all-out tussle in the pivotal Game 3 of their championship duel Saturday night at Busch Stadium, St. Louis, Missouri.
After suffering an 8-1 blowout loss to the Red Sox in the series opener Wednesday, the Cardinals bounced back in an emphatic way in Game 2 as aggressive base running and solid bullpen play helped them to take a 4-2 win on Thursday and level things up at 1-1.
On Saturday, both teams are expected to make a few adjustments as the series slowly turns into a virtual chess match between Cardinals manager Mike Matheny and Red Sox manager John Ferrell.
NO DH at Cards' Home
David Ortiz has been doing a lot of damage as the designated hitter throughout the Red Sox postseason campaign. On Thursday, Ortiz recorded his 17th postseason homer of his career after ending Michael Wacha's scoreless run with a two-run blast in the sixth inning.
However, with the series shifting to a National League ballpark, Ferrell has no option but to put Ortiz on the first base while Mike Napoli will likely take his time on the bench in Game 3.
"Obviously David's bat, at all costs, needs to be in the lineup. David is a game-changer. He's as clutch as anybody I can remember playing with or against," Red Sox Game 3 starter Jake Peavy told the media during the pre-game news conference on Friday via ESPN.
Pitchers' Warfare
Peavy, a former NL CY Young Award winner, will be starting on the mound for the Red Sox in Game 3. The 32-year old hurler allowed 10 hits and 8 runs over eight innings this postseason, but Ferrell remains confident that the four-time All-Star will come up big on the biggest stage of his career.
"This is what I've lived for my whole life -- my whole baseball career, I should say," Peavy told ESPN. "I'm as prepared as I'll ever be -- physically, mentally."
The Cards, on the other hand, will be fielding Joe Kelly, who allowed four runs in his last outing against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLCS.
Live Stream & Schedule
Coverage of Game 3 of the 2013 World Series between the St. Louis Cardinals vs. Boston Red Sox will begin 7:30 p.m Saturday on FOX. The game can be streamed online via MLB Postseason TV while Audio Streaming is available on ESPN Radio. Live Scores and Boxscores Information is available on ESPN World Series Coverage.