This is the fourth meeting of the Cardinals and Red Sox in the World Series. The Cardinals have won in two of the three previous meetings. Both wins came in 7 games, first in 1946 and then again in 1967, while Boston won the last meeting in the fall classic in 2004 in a clean 4 game sweep. This years series marks the first World Series since 1999 to pair the two teams with the best regular-season records in their respective leagues (Yankees and Braves). This also marks only the third in history to feature two teams with identical regular-season records. The other times it happened were in 1949 (Yankees Beat Dodgers in 6) and in 1958 (Yankees beat the Milwaukee Braves in 7).
Because both teams share the best overall regular-season records in baseball, this will be only the fourth time since 1995 in which the team with the best regular-season record went on to win the World Series that season. The three previous occurrences came in 1998 (Yankees beat Padres in 4), 2007 (Red Sox Beat Rockies in 4), and finally in 2009 (Yankees beaat Phillies in 6).If history is any indication, this type of situation has favored the American League.
So with all that history now on display for you, lets get down to the meat and potato's and break down this series. Here is the date and time of every game to be played in the World Series:
October 23 St. Louis Cardinals @ Boston Red Sox Fenway Park 8:07 PM
October 24 St. Louis Cardinals @ Boston Red Sox Fenway Park 8:07 PM
October 26 Boston Red Sox @ St. Louis Cardinals Busch Stadium 8:07 PM
October 27 Boston Red Sox @ St. Louis Cardinals Busch Stadium 8:15 PM
October 28† Boston Red Sox @ St. Louis Cardinals Busch Stadium 8:07 PM
October 30† St. Louis Cardinals @ Boston Red Sox Fenway Park 8:07 PM
October 31† St. Louis Cardinals @ Boston Red Sox Fenway Park 8:07 PM
Every game of the series can be heard on ESPN Radio.
So now that we know how they got here and when they will play, lets take a deeper look at this series. From a statistical perspective, the Red Sox have the edge when it comes to hitting. They have scored more runs, have a higher team batting average, and a higher team on base percentage. Pitching wise, the Cardinals have the edge. I know St. Louis has played one more game than the Red Sox, which makes the numbers a bit more inflated in St. Louis favor.
The pitching staff is going to be key for me in this series. Both teams can score runs, we saw that in the league championship series. Starting pitching is going to be critical in this series. The bullpens, as far as I can tell are about even. Based on the first few rounds of the playoffs, it doesn't look like the pens are going to give up much in the runs department, so they balance each other out. Starting pitching is going to be key, to which the Cardinals have the advantage. The Cards have the better pitching rotation. Adam Wainwright and Michael Wacha are throwing better than Boston's aces of Jon Lester and John Lackey. Lance Lynn and Jake Peavy sort of cancel eachother out, and Clay Buckholtz is better than Joe Kelly.
During the ALCS, Boston was able to overcome the top pitchers in the Tigers starting rotation. They got to the Tigers bullpen, which by comparison here is weaker than that of the Cardinals. The Tigers pitching staff was good, but the one Boston is now going to be facing is a better staff, not only in its starters, but the pen as well. Out of all the Red Sox hitters who have played a lot during this years playoffs, Jacoby Ellsbury is the only one in that lineup who is hitting above .275. Plus think about this. Since the Cardinals have home field advantage, the Red Sox look like they are going to lose Ortiz and Napoli from their lineup because they play four games, possibly, in the NL park. That has the Boston offense at a disadvantage.
To be fair here, the Red Sox have had the better all around, more balanced offense. Carlos Beltran has been the most productive bat in the Cards lineup. The Cards were able to stop a high powered offense in the Dodgers in the NLCS and the Dodgers offense is almost on par with that of the one Boston has. The Dodgers were shut down by the St. Louis pitching staff, which is the same problem Boston is going to have. Also throw in the fact that in the NL parks two of Boston's biggest bats are being taken out of the lineup.
So with all things taken into account, with what the lineups are looking like for the series and what has gone on already in this years playoffs, I'm taking the Cardinals to win the series in 7 games!
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