Red Sox starter Jon Lester tossing the ball to first to record an out. He allowed one run and four hits in seven and two-thirds innings, striking out seven.
ST. LOUIS — There were no bizarre endings involving obstruction or pickoffs, this time, no balks or hidden-ball tricks to end the game in some confusing and stunning fashion.
Game 5 of the 2013 World Series ended as hundreds before it have, with a routine lineout — this time when Koji Uehara got Matt Holliday for the final out. But that was sweet enough for the Boston Red Sox, who beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 3-1, and now lead the best-of-seven series, three games to two.
The Red Sox survived the three games in the National League ballpark without the use of the designated hitter, and now have two chances to close out the Series at Fenway Park and secure their third World Series title in nine years.
Wednesday’s game will be the first World Series Game 6 in Boston since 1975, when Bernie Carbo’s three-run, pinch-hit homer set the stage for Carlton Fisk’s game-ending blast in the 12th inning against the Cincinnati Reds.
This series, with its 11 combined errors and mistakes at the plate and on the basepaths, is not shaping up as neatly, but at least there were no glaring mistakes or errors Monday.
Jon Lester pitched magnificently once again, holding the Cardinals to one run and four hits, and did not walk a batter in seven and two-thirds innings. He improved to 2-0 in this Series.
Adam Wainwright, his Cardinals counterpart, struck out 10 and pitched far better than he did in Game 1. But he gave up two runs in the seventh inning after a big mistake. After allowing a one-out single to Xander Bogaerts, Wainwright walked Stephen Drew, the weak-hitting Red Sox shortstop who came into the at-bat 1 for 14 in the Series and 4 for 49 during this postseason.
David Ross immediately made Wainwright pay by lashing a ground-rule double into the left-field corner to drive in Bogaerts and break at 1-1 tie. One out later, Jacoby Ellsbury looped a hit to center to bring home Drew, and even though Ross was thrown out at the plate, the Red Sox led, 3-1.
They wasted no time in producing offense, scoring a run in the first inning when Dustin Pedroia and David Ortiz hit back-to-back doubles. Ortiz, who rallied his team with an impromptu dugout meeting in Game 4 on Sunday, came into the game with eight hits in 11 at-bats for a .727 batting average, with two home runs and five runs batted in during the Series.
After his run-scoring double in the first, he singled in the fourth to reach base safely in nine straight trips to the plate, tying Billy Hatcher, who did it with Cincinnati in the 1990 World Series, when the Reds swept the Oakland Athletics.
Ortiz finally made an out in the sixth, but only when center fielder Shane Robinson caught a line drive that Ortiz scalded.
The Cardinals drew even in the fourth when Matt Holliday hit his second home run of the Series, driving a 1-0 offering from Lester onto the grass backdrop in center field.
The game featured a rematch of the Game 1 starters, with each team’s ace taking the mound again. Wainwright did poorly in the opener, allowing five runs (three earned) in five innings in what he said was his worst outing of the year.
Lester, on the other hand, pitched brilliantly in that opener, shutting out the Cardinals over seven and two-thirds innings as Boston won, 8-1. It was after that game that the Cardinals minor league pitcher Tyler Melling suggested on his Twitter account that Lester might have been using an illegal substance on his fingers.
A replay showed Lester dabbing two fingers on something on the inside of his glove, but the Cardinals did not make an issue of it. St. Louis managed only seven hits and a walk that night, and did not want to blame the greenish substance on his glove — Lester said it was rosin to dry his fingers — for their lack of production.
But they seemed intent on forcing Lester to pitch out of the stretch Monday, a task that proved challenging.
“As far as any specific adjustments that I think we’re going to make, I don’t know if there are any things that we’re going to make a change on,” Cardinals second baseman Matt Carpenter said before the game. “We had some good at-bats against him. We just weren’t able to score many runs. Hopefully, we can get some guys on and make some things happen tonight.”
But it did not happen, and now the Cardinals must win two games in Boston.
This Series has been characterized by its errors and mistakes, and two unusual endings. On Saturday, Game 3 ended on an obstruction call on Red Sox third baseman Will Middlebrooks; on Sunday, Game 4 ended when Cardinals pinch-runner Kolten Wong was picked off first base.
Before this year, no World Series games had ended in either manner. On Monday, Game 5 ended in a more ordinary manner, and the Red Sox are heading home on the verge of a championship.
