Lackey took the mound in the top of the first inning and Matt Carpenter grounded out to short to begin. The Fox broadcast showing the 2004 Red Sox alumni throwing out the first pitch which was a painful reminder to Cardinals managr Mike Matheny and catcher Yadier Molina who were on the 2004 Cards that lost to the Sox. Carlos Beltran lined one into left and Jonny Gomes dove....couldn't catch it. He did scramble after the ball to hold Carlos to a single before Matt Holliday struck out swinging on a high 93 mph fastball. Matt Adams flied out to left to end the inning. Wacha got the ball in the bottom of the first and Jacoby Ellsbury popped up to third to begin. Shane Victorino whiffed on a changeup out of the zone and Dustin Pedroia swung and missed for strike three to end the inning.
Molina poked a single to right to begin the top of the second before Allen Craig flied out to right. David Freese whiffed on a curveball in the dirt before Jon Jay grounded out to second to end the inning. David Ortiz led off the bottom of the second by grounding out to second before Mike Napoli drew a walk. Gomes popped up to center before Jarrod Saltalamacchia also popped up to the same spot to end the inning.
Daniel Descalso led off the top of the third inning by swinging and missing on a cutter in the dirt before Carpenter whiffed on the exact same pitch. Beltran grounded out to second on the first pitch to end the inning. Stephen "PU" Drew led off the bottom of the third by whiffed to start. Xander Bogaerts also swung and missed for strike three before Ellsbury lined a broken bat bloop single to center. Victorino popped up to center to end the inning.
The Cards struck first in the top of the fourth when Holliday tripled into the gap in center. Pedroia saved a run with a diving catch on a liner by Adams but Molina grounded on to Pedroia who had no choice but to go to first for the out, scoring Holliday to give the Cards the lead. Craig walked but Freese grounded out to short to end the inning with the Cards up 1-0.
The Sox tried to fight back when Pedroia doubled off the Monster to begin the bottom of the fourth before Ortiz walked. The rally ended as Napoli banged into a double play and Gomes popped up to Carpenter to end the inning.
Jay lined out to a running Ellsbury to begin the top of the fifth before Drew made a hell of a play to rob Descalso of a hit. Carpenter also grounded out to short to end the inning. The Sox did nothing in the bottom of the fifth although Saltalamacchia walked to begin. Drew flied out to left before Bogaerts whiffed again. Ellsbury popped up to third to end the inning.
Lackey returned for the top of the sixth and Beltran popped up to center to begin. Holliday whiffed on a breaking ball in the dirt but Adams smacked a seeing eye single into left. Molina grounded out to second to end the inning. The Sox struck back in the bottom of the sixth although Victorino was retired on a squibber to third. Pedroia walked and Ortiz crushed a 2 run homer into the Monster Seats to give the Sox the lead. Napoli looked at strike three before Gomes grounded out to third to end the inning with the Sox ahead 2-1.
Unlike every other World Series game at Fenway going back to Game 5 in 1986, the Sox failed to hold the lead in the top of the seventh inning. Lackey did freeze Craig for strike three but Freese worked a crucial walk on a full count. Jay singled to right and that was it for Lackey. Lackey pitched a heck of a game but the bullpen would eventually fail him.
Pete Kozma pinch ran for Freese as Craig Breslow came in and the Cardinals pulled off a double steal when Saltalamacchia couldn't get a grip on a ball from Craig. Descalso walked to load the bases with nobody out and Carpenter popped up to left. Kozma took off for home and Gomes threw home but Saltalamacchia muffed the throw, allowing the run to score. If that wasn't enough, the ball got away and Jay took off for third. Breslow threw the ball away allowing Jay to score the go-ahead run and Descalso advanced to third. Beltran singled to right to score Descalso and chase Breslow from the game. Junichi Tazawa came in to pitch and got Holliday to ground out to second but it was 4-2 Sox. Just like that the Cardinals had the 4-2 lead and the Sox were deflated.
Carlos Martinez was the new pitcher in the bottom of the seventh and Saltalamacchia whiffed to start. PU Drew lined one off Martinez but Kozma made an amazing throw to nab Drew at first. Bogaerts grounded out to short to end the inning.
Brandon Workman came in to pitch the top of the eighth and Adams lined out to left to begin. Molina flied out to the warning track in center but Craig singled to center. Kozma popped up to second to end the inning. The Sox tried to start a rally when Ellsbury reached on an error by Carpenter to begin the bottom of the eighth. Martinez froze Victorino with a slider for strike three before whiffing Pedroia. Cards manager Mike Matheny left Martinez in to face Ortiz and David singled into the shift. Martinez was still there to face Napoli with the tying runs on and Matheny's faith was rewarded when Mike popped up to short to end the inning.
Koji Uehara took the mound in the top of the ninth and Jay popped up to left to start. Descalso grounded out to short and Carpenter lined out to a diving Bogaerts to end the inning. Cardinals closer Trevor Rosenthal came on to end the bottom of the ninth and froze Gomes to start. Saltalamacchia whiffed badly and Daniel Nava pinch hit for Drew only to strike out to end the game. The Cardinals broke the Sox 8 game world series winning streak with a 4-2 win at Fenway.
Jackass of the Night is Craig Breslow. He was brought in to protect a 2-1 lead and allowed both inherited runners to score and one of his own.
The Good:
Dustin Pedroia was 1 for 3 with a walk and a run scored.
David Ortiz was 2 for 3 with a walk including a 2 run home run.
Junichi Tazawa retired the only man he faced.
Brandon Workman pitched a scoreless 8th.
Koji Uehara pitched a scoreless ninth inning.
The Bad:
Shane Victorino was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
Stephen Drew was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.
Daniel Nava struck out to end the game.
Xander Bogaerts was 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts.
The Ugly:
Jacoby Ellsbury was just 1 for 4.
John Lackey took the loss but pitched well, getting charged for 3 runs in 6 1/3 innings of work. If it wasnt for the comedy of errors in the 7th the game might have turned out differently.
Final Thoughts:
If this is the beginning of the end for the Red Sox this season, this sure was a bitter pill to swallow. The Sox committing 2 errors on one play and giving up an rbi single 30 seconds later was like bing, bang boom for Sox fans The Sox pretty much needed to win both games at Fenway because you can't really trust Jake Peavy and Clay Buchholz at this point to get the job done. Not that Joe Kelly or Lance Lynn are as scary as Adam Wainwright and Wacha but it could be a slugfest the next two games. Once again Lackey pitched his ass off and the Sox failed to score many runs for him. The bullpen minus Breslow locked it down but it was too late at that point. Fortunately the Sox are not dead yet and the series is only tied early. Game 3 in St. Louis as Jake Peavy taking the mound against Joe Kelly at 8:05 PM at Busch Stadium.
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