ST. LOUIS — The last time the Red Sox won a World Series at Fenway Park, the Bambino himself was among the celebrants.
It’s simple for the Red Sox now as they attempt to party like it’s 1918: Win one game (in two tries, if necessary) against the Cardinals, and a third world championship in the last decade is theirs.
Jon Lester thrust his team into position with a brilliant pitching performance Monday night that led a 3-1 victory over the Cardinals in Game 5 of the World Series at Busch Stadium.
The lefty allowed one run on four hits without a walk over 7 ²/₃ innings, further burying the memory of Boston’s controversial loss Saturday, when Will Middlebrooks was called for obstruction in the ninth inning, allowing Allen Craig to score the winning run.
Since then, Red Sox pitching has provided a path to two straight victories and 3-2 series lead. On Sunday that meant a strong bullpen performance for the final five innings, and Monday it was Lester with the magic touch before Koji Uehara got the final four outs for the save.
“You show up Feb. 1, play 162 [games], we’re probably like 180 now total, and it comes down to one game,” Lester said. “Pretty special time. We’ve just got to go out and keep playing baseball the way we’ve been doing it all year.”
Lester retired 12 straight batters after allowing a homer to Matt Holliday in the fourth. David Freese doubled with one out in the eighth to stoke the Cardinals’ hopes of a rally.
Uehara was summoned with Freese on second base and two outs in the inning and retired pinch-hitter Matt Adams before pitching a perfect ninth to silence the sellout crowd of 47,436 for good.
“The fact is we’re going home,” Red Sox manager John Farrell said. “Going back to a place our guys love to play in, in front of our fans. The atmosphere here, these three games, has been phenomenal. We know it’s going to be equal to that if not better.”
The series will resume on Wednesday with Cardinals stud rookie Michael Wacha scheduled to face John Lackey.
“It’s a great opportunity for us to go in and prove the kind of team we are as far as how tough we are mentally, and I think that’s where it begins,” Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. “After that it comes down to execution. We’ve got to have Michael come out and throw a big game.”
Adam Wainwright was in control heading into the seventh on Monday before the Red Sox scored twice against him to take a 3-1 lead.
David Ross slashed Wainwright’s 102nd pitch of the night into the left-field corner for an RBI double before Jacoby Ellsbury delivered a run-scoring single. Ross was thrown out at the plate trying to score from second on the play, but the Red Sox had their cushion.
Wainwright allowed three earned runs on eight hits with 10 strikeouts and one walk in absorbing his second loss of the series.
David Ortiz continues to be a menace to the Cardinals. The Red Sox slugger finished 3-for-4 with an RBI and raised his batting average in the series to .733. Overall, he has reached base in 14 of his 19 plate appearances in the series.
Ortiz was asked if he’s ever been this locked in over a five-game stretch.
“I did it like 20 times this year,” he said. “I was born for this.”
Holliday’s second homer of the Series, a solo shot in the fourth, tied the game at 1-1. The blast was Holliday’s fourth overall this postseason. Lester caught Shane Robinson looking at strike three to begin the inning before Holliday hit a 93 mph fastball over the center-field fence. Carlos Beltran followed with a drive to deep left-center, but Jonny Gomes made the catch in front of the fence.
Ortiz’s RBI double in the first got the scoring started. Dustin Pedroia had doubled with one out before Ortiz slammed a shot between Craig and the foul line to get the run home. The RBI was Ortiz’s sixth in the Series.
Now he gets to return to Fenway with a chance to earn a third world championship ring.
“It’s going to be loud out there,” Ortiz said. “Our fans are baseball fans. They love the game and love how we’ve been going at it every day.”