Given a bit of help by the umpires and a lot more by the Cardinals, the Boston Red Sox turned the baseball World Series opener into a rout.
Mike Napoli hit a three-run double right after the umpires reversed a blown call and Jon Lester made an early lead stand up as the Red Sox romped past sloppy St Louis yesterday for their ninth straight win in a World Series.
David Ortiz was robbed of a grand slam by Carlos Beltran - a catch that sent the star right fielder to a hospital with bruised ribs - but Big Papi later hit a two-run homer following third baseman David Freese's bad throw.
The Red Sox also capitalised on two errors by shortstop Pete Kozma to extend a series-winning streak that began when they swept St Louis in 2004. Boston never trailed at any point in those four games and, thanks to this embarrassing display by the Cardinals, coasted on a rollicking night at Fenway Park in Boston.
It got so bad for St Louis that the sellout crowd laughed when pitcher Adam Wainwright and catcher Yadier Molina, who've combined to win six Gold Gloves, let an easy popup drop untouched between them.
