The Boston Red Sox and St. Louis Cardinals played the first game of their three-game series this weekend. Connelly Early got the ball for Boston as he faced former Red Sox Dustin May for St. Louis.
Boston Red Sox Starting Lineup
LF – Jarren Duran
3B – Caleb Durbin
DH – Masataka Yoshida
1B – Willson Contreras
RF – Wilyer Abreu
SS – Trevor Story
2B – Marcelo Mayer
C – Carlos Narváez
CF – Ceddanne Rafaela
LHP – Connelly Early
St. Louis Cardinals Starting Lineup
2B – JJ Wetherholt
DH – Ivan Herrera
1B – Alec Burleson
RF – Jordan Walker
3B – Ramon Urías
SS – Masyn Winn
LF – Jose Fermín
C – Pedro Pagés
CF – Victor Scott II
RHP – Dustin May
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Red Sox vs. Cardinals
First Three
Each team had a runner reach base in the first inning, but to no avail. The Red Sox got a leadoff single from Wilyer Abreu in the second but couldn’t do anything with it. The Cardinals broke through in the second. Ramon Urías led off the inning with a double, followed by a Masyn Winn walk, then Jose Fermín singled to load the bases. After a strikeout, Victor Scott brought home Urías with a sacrifice fly. JJ Wetherholt drew a walk to load the bases back up. Connelly Early was able to strike out Ivan Herrera to end the inning. The Red Sox went down in order in the third. St. Louis had two men on with two out, but Early got another clutch out to end the jam.
Middle Three
The Red Sox got their first lead of the game in the fourth. Masataka Yoshida led off with a single, then after a quick out, Willson Contreras singled and Yoshida advanced to third. Trevor Story hit into a fielder’s choice, which brought home Yoshida to tie it at 1-1. Marcelo Mayer singled. Mayer would then try to steal second, and on the throw, Story went home and scored to make it 2-1. Mayer did advance to second on the play, making it 2-1 Boston. The Cardinals and Red Sox went down in order in their next at-bats. The Cardinals took the lead back in the fifth. After an out, Early was relieved for Zack Kelly, who allowed a single followed by a walk, then Thomas Saggese singled home a run and Fermín hit a sacrifice fly to make it 3-2 St. Louis. The Red Sox went in order. In the bottom of the sixth, Tyler Samaniego came in off his fantastic debut. Tonight, he allowed back-to-back walks before getting two outs. The Red Sox turned to Greg Weissert for the final out in the sixth.
Last Three
Both teams went down in order in the seventh. Ceddanne Rafaela led off the eighth with a double, then Jarren Duran would line out, and Rafaela advanced to third. Caleb Durbin would then reach on a hit by pitch. The Cardinals would escape the threat, striking out Yoshida and getting Contreras to fly out. Pedro Pagés led off the inning with a double, then after back-to-back outs, the Red Sox intentionally walked Herrera, and Jovani Moran struck out Alec Burleson to end the inning. The Red Sox went down in order in the ninth, and the Cardinals took the first game of the series 3-2.
Player of the Game
Ramon Urías went 1-3 with two runs scored, the lone hit was a double and he also reached via a walk.
