Red Sox vs. Cardinals lineups: Worst to first

The Red Sox look to return atop the horse against their World Series rival St. Louis Cardinals tonight behind former Cardinal Michael Wacha (7:10 p.m., NESN).

After the twin Sox and Celtics losses yesterday, another loss today would just be cruel, so we should avoid that. We can only take so much pain with our incredible success! Hopefully Wacha and his 2.33 ERA can get the train back on track against a Cardinals team that, naturally sits atop the N.L. Central. The reason why is Paul Goldschmidt, who’s been the best hitter in baseball this year by far, though it should be noted, this being a Red Sox blog, that Rafael Devers is in the top 5 in many of these metrics. Still, Goldschmidt is having a no-doubt MVP season thus far.

The Red Sox lineup you know. Adam Wainwright you also probably know. The rest of the Cardinals you may or may not know but Nolan Gorman and Dylan Carlson are the relatively new ones and are very good. Now you definitely know. Onward!