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Lester, Red Sox rout sloppy Cards in Series opener

Sports

October 24th, 2013 by Ric Hanson

BOSTON (AP) — Mike Napoli hit a three-run double right after umpires reversed a blown call, Jon Lester made an early lead stand up and the Boston Red Sox romped past the sloppy St. Louis Cardinals 8-1 in Game 1 on Wednesday night for their ninth straight World Series win.

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 capitalized 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.