Lester, Sox Shut Down Cardinals in Game One

Jon Lester was magnificent and the Red Sox took advantage of St. Louis miscue to take game one of the World Series, 8-1 at Fenway Park.

Peter Abraham has Lester and the Sox in control right from the first inning. Scott Lauber has the Sox rolling to an easy opening win. Art Martone has a lot of things going right for the Sox. Gordon Edes notes that this one looked similar to the ease with which the Sox won in 2004. Alex Speier examines what went right for the Red Sox in this one. Bill Ballou says that everything went right for the Sox last night.  Tim Healey looks at the ugly performance by the Cardinals. Chad Finn says that the curse mongers might want to take a different look at things. Jon Couture expects the Cardinals to bounce back.  Michael Hurley looks at the night, which starts with the performance of Lester. Paul Doyle has one expectation of the series already debunked. Christopher Smith has the Sox playing nearly perfect baseball. Evan Drellich has St. Louis embarrassing themselves in game one. Kevin Thomas has Lester and the Sox keeping St. Louis off balance all night. Scott Cordischi has more on the rout at Fenway.

Sean McAdam has the Sox more than happy to take what the Cardinals gave them last night. Dan Shaughnessy calls this “one of the sloppiest performances in World Series history” by the Cardinals. He also has former manager Terry Francona just rooting for great baseball in this series. Steve Buckley wonders if this was really the St. Louis Browns out on the field. Christopher L. Gasper says this was a game the Cardinals could never get a grip on. Jackie MacMullan has the Sox happy to accept the Cardinals’ gifts. Jeff Jacobs wants to change his prediction after watching last night. Ron Chimelis says that the Sox don’t mind accepting the Cards charity. Jim Donaldson looks at a comedy of errors by the Cardinals.

Rob Bradford  wonders if Jon Lester may have discovered that mythical “next level” last night. Brian MacPherson has Lester figuring out quickly what was going to work last night.  Nick Cafardo has Lester showing himself to be a true ace, something some thought would never be possible. Ron Borges has Lester ending the discussion of who is the true ace of the staff. Maureen Mullen says that Lester’s gem will go down in Red Sox lore. Joe McDonald has Lester clicking on all cylinders. Jennifer Toland has Lester answering the call. Eric Avidon says that Lester was the picture of calm.

The Globe says Mike Napoli has a postseason way about him. Adam Kurkjian has Napoli getting things going for the Sox early. Mullen has Napoli getting even with the Cardinals for the 2011 World Series. Kyle Brasseur has Napoli continuing to shine on the big stage.

Borges has John Lackey hoping for a repeat of his 2002 World Series performance. Bill Burt says that Lackey has won us over. He writes though, that he expects Lackey to be gone after next season because the Red Sox hold the 2015 option. Does he know it is for the minimum?  Howard Herman wonders if Xander Bogaerts will be the X-factor of this series.

Kevin Paul Dupont has the Umpires getting together to straighten out a first inning blown call. Silverman has more on the rare call reversal last night. Speier also looks at the game-changing overturn of a blown call in detail. Drellich has the umpire explaining the awful feeling of having his call overturned.

John Tomase has David Ortiz putting his ALCS frustrations behind with a big performance in game one.  Shira Springer has Ortiz putting the finishing touches on this one. McAdam looks at Papi adding to his postseason legend with another home run. Tony Lee has Ortiz passing Babe Ruth on the postseason home run chart. Chimelis says that Ortiz just keeps wearing out pitchers, outfielders and bullpens.

Abraham has Clay Buchholz planning on making his start despite shoulder tightness. Michael Silverman has the club concerned about his status. McAdam has Buchholz scheduled to pitch Game 4 but that is still not 100% certain. McDonald says that the “fatigue” in his throwing shoulder may keep Buchholz on the shelf. Bradford says it is a case of fatigue setting in after having missed so much time in the middle of the season. Despite Farrell saying that Buchholz would start game four, Jacobs says that the righty’s status is unclear going forward. Thomas says something’s wrong with Buchholz.

Julian Benbow has the right field fence claiming another victim. Tom Layman says that Carlos Beltran’s status is unclear after the injury. Healy says Beltran will be day-to-day.

Anthony Gulizia has Cardinals starter Wainwright saying that pretty much everything he threw last night was garbage. Smith says to look for the Cardinals starters to bring the heat for the rest of the series.

Bill Doyle has Tim McCarver giving the Cardinals the edge in the series. Springer has Tony La Russa weighing in on his former team and the series. Chad Finn has Mike Lowell enjoying the series as an analyst for MLB Network. Lenny Megliola says that there is a lot to watch between these teams.

Lauber’s Red Sox Notebook has Buchholz getting just one start in the series, and David Ortiz passing Babe Ruth. Mullen’s Sox notes has the World Series winning streak reaching nine game for the Red Sox. The Sox notebook from Eric Avidon looks at Buchholz. The Red Sox Journal says it will be Jake Peavy in game three, and hopefully Buchholz for four.

Benbow’s Cardinals Notebook has the team looking to Michael Wacha for game two. Mullen’s Cardinals notes has the team matching their postseason error total in one game.