Cardinals come home
St. Louis buoyed by ‘sea of red’
ST. LOUIS — From the Green Monster to the Gateway Arch. From the Charles River to the mighty Mississippi. From clam chowder to toasted ravioli.
The World Series scene is shifting, and St. Louis ace Adam Wainwright couldn’t be happier.
“We love Cardinal country,” he said Friday.
For good reason, too. After Boston split the first two games at Fenway Park, now Dustin Pedroia, Jacoby Ellsbury and the rest of the Red Sox will get to see what makes this place so special. Especially in October. “Well, we love playing here at Busch Stadium. Like I said, it’s a sea of red,” pitcher Joe Kelly said.
The free-spirited Kelly was set to start Game 3 on Saturday night against Jake Peavy.
“This is what I’ve lived for my whole life — my whole baseball career, I should say,” Peavy said. “I’m as prepared as I’ll ever be — physically, mentally.”
Also warmed up: A team of eight Clydesdales, ready to pull a red beer wagon around the warning track before the first pitch. It’s also a tradi- tion for fans to gather early at the Musial statue — there are two honouring Stan the Man, actually.
Red Sox closer Koji Uehara took a moment to soak it all in. As he walked onto the field for a workout, the first-time visitor looked at the gleaming Arch hovering high beyond the centre-field fence.
The Cardinals rely on a lot more than pomp when they play in their own park.
They led the NL in scoring while going 54-27 at Busch, and then let pitching take over in the post-season. St. Louis is 5-1 at home in the playoffs — in those five wins, opponents scored a total of five runs.
Boston has hit just .188 in the Series, with David Ortiz providing the biggest bop. He’s homered in both games and is 4-for-6 overall with five RBIs. With no designated hitter in the National League park, Ortiz will switch to first base. Manager John Farrell wouldn’t say whether Ortiz would start there for every game in St. Louis, but it’s a good guess regular first baseman Mike Napoli will be on the bench for a while.
Farrell also said lefty-swinging Daniel Nava would start in left field instead of Jonny Gomes, 0-for-7 so far.