What better way to celebrate the day after a fantastic Game 1 victory in the World Series than by retelling the story with moving pictures?
From the get-go, Game 1 was promising indeed for the Red Sox. Jon Lester came out throwing fire, working quickly to get the game to the bottom of the first, where the Sox showed Wainwright there wasn't a near no-hitter in the offing. A walk to Jacoby Ellsbury and a base hit from Dustin Pedroia put two on for the Sox, with Shane Victorino's frozen rope directly at Matt Holliday the only out. Things were looking good until second base umpire Dana DeMuth seemed to gift St. Louis an out, calling this botched double play:
a drop on the transfer, ruling Dustin Pedroia out. John Farrell was having none of it, getting the umpires to confer and finally deliver the correct call, loading the bases with one down. Three pitches later, Mike Napoli took full advantage:
The double put the Sox ahead 3-0, and that lead would just continue to grow in the second as the Cardinals continued to make defensive gaffes:
Still, despite trailing 5-0 after the second, it could have been so much worse for the Cardinals but for a spectacular bit of robbery from Carlos Beltran:
All told, though, five runs would be more than enough thanks to Jon Lester's magnificent performance on the mound. This is a pretty good metaphor for the night the Cardinals had against him:
And even when they did make solid contact, Jonny Gomes was out there doin' things:
Still, there was one thing missing. David Ortiz had been robbed of a homer. Clearly that needed to be set right:
That's more like it.
The Red Sox are 1-0 in the World Series, but time to bask is limited. Game 2 gets underway in less than 12 hours.