The Boston Red Sox rode methodical pitching, the white hot bat of slugger David Ortiz and several timely hits to beat the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday night. The 3-1 win at Busch Stadium puts the Fenway phenoms just one game away from winning the World Series.
Ortiz, hitting an unheard of .733 in the Series (that’s nearly 3 out of every 4 pitches, notching two home runs and six RBIs) delivered a couple more big hits, but it was journeyman catcher David Ross who sliced a clutch double in the seventh inning that put the Red Sox ahead for good. After wild finishes on Saturday and Sunday nights, Boston’s bullpen closed out Game 5 in business-like fashion.
The Series returns to Boston on Wednesday, where the Red Sox will have a chance to clinch their third title of this decade. But if St. Louis wins, Game 7 will be played on Halloween night. In a championship where little has gone as predicted, Ortiz provided perhaps the only certainty: “It’s going to get loud out there.”
[AP]