Pregame: After winning two out of three games in St. Louis, the Red Sox enter Game 6 of the World Series with a 3-2 series lead over the Cardinals, one win away from their third World Championship in the last decade.
David Ortiz has led the way for the Red Sox, hitting .733 in the series with two home runs and six RBIs. The rest of the team has struggled offensively, but timely hitting and strong pitching have put the Red Sox on the brink of another championship.
John Lackey will get the start for the Red Sox tonight. In his last start, the Red Sox lost a tough Game 2 despite Lackey leaving the game with the lead, as two errors on the same play in the seventh inning allowed the Cardinals to take a 3-2 lead in the game, eventually winning 4-2.
In the postseason, Lackey is 2-1 with a 3.26 ERA in four appearances, three of them starts. Lackey came out of the bullpen to pitch a scoreless eighth inning in Game 4, one which the Red Sox would go on to win on a game-ending pickoff by Koji Uehara of St. Louis’s Kolten Wong.
The Cardinals will count on rookie Michael Wacha to try and extend their season to a Game 7. In his last start, also Game 2 of the World Series, Wacha picked up the win despite the Cardinals trailing 2-1 when he was last on the mound. He went six innings and gave up two runs on a home run by David Ortiz.
Wacha is 4-0 with a 1.00 ERA in four postseason starts. Wacha won two games for the Cardinals in the NLCS against the Dodgers, allowing no runs on seven hits in 13.2 innings. He was later named NLCS MVP.
Before the game, the Red Sox will welcome back team legends Luis Tiant and Carlton Fisk to throw out the ceremonial first pitches. Both were key members of the 1975 American League Champion Red Sox and played well in the World Series against the Cincinnati Reds. Tiant went 2-0 in that series, and Fisk hit the most memorable home run in Red Sox history, 12th-inning walk-off that hit the left field foul pole in Game 6 to force a Game 7 and save the Red Sox season.
The first ball will be delivered to the mound by 10-year-old Jordan Laudani, a member of the Watertown Boys & Girls Club, along with Red Sox legend and Hall of Famer Jim Rice.
Boston’s own Dropkick Murphys will perform the National Anthem prior to the game, as well as play their hit song “I’m Shipping up to Boston,” which became an anthem of the Red Sox on their way to their 2007 World Series championship.
Performing “God Bless America” in the middle of the seventh inning will be a quartet from the United States Air Force Heritage of America Band: Master Sgt. Jennifer Dashnaw, Tech. Sgt. Quez Vasquez, Tech. Sgt. Niko Ellison, and Staff Sgt. Rachel Webber.
David Ortiz has led the way for the Red Sox, hitting .733 in the series with two home runs and six RBIs. The rest of the team has struggled offensively, but timely hitting and strong pitching have put the Red Sox on the brink of another championship.
John Lackey will get the start for the Red Sox tonight. In his last start, the Red Sox lost a tough Game 2 despite Lackey leaving the game with the lead, as two errors on the same play in the seventh inning allowed the Cardinals to take a 3-2 lead in the game, eventually winning 4-2.
In the postseason, Lackey is 2-1 with a 3.26 ERA in four appearances, three of them starts. Lackey came out of the bullpen to pitch a scoreless eighth inning in Game 4, one which the Red Sox would go on to win on a game-ending pickoff by Koji Uehara of St. Louis’s Kolten Wong.
The Cardinals will count on rookie Michael Wacha to try and extend their season to a Game 7. In his last start, also Game 2 of the World Series, Wacha picked up the win despite the Cardinals trailing 2-1 when he was last on the mound. He went six innings and gave up two runs on a home run by David Ortiz.
Wacha is 4-0 with a 1.00 ERA in four postseason starts. Wacha won two games for the Cardinals in the NLCS against the Dodgers, allowing no runs on seven hits in 13.2 innings. He was later named NLCS MVP.
Before the game, the Red Sox will welcome back team legends Luis Tiant and Carlton Fisk to throw out the ceremonial first pitches. Both were key members of the 1975 American League Champion Red Sox and played well in the World Series against the Cincinnati Reds. Tiant went 2-0 in that series, and Fisk hit the most memorable home run in Red Sox history, 12th-inning walk-off that hit the left field foul pole in Game 6 to force a Game 7 and save the Red Sox season.
The first ball will be delivered to the mound by 10-year-old Jordan Laudani, a member of the Watertown Boys & Girls Club, along with Red Sox legend and Hall of Famer Jim Rice.
Boston’s own Dropkick Murphys will perform the National Anthem prior to the game, as well as play their hit song “I’m Shipping up to Boston,” which became an anthem of the Red Sox on their way to their 2007 World Series championship.
Performing “God Bless America” in the middle of the seventh inning will be a quartet from the United States Air Force Heritage of America Band: Master Sgt. Jennifer Dashnaw, Tech. Sgt. Quez Vasquez, Tech. Sgt. Niko Ellison, and Staff Sgt. Rachel Webber.