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(SportsNetwork.com) - There hasnt been a better starting pitcher this postseason than St. Louis right-hander Michael Wacha. The Cardinals will need their rookie to be sharp once again if they want to avoid going home in an 0-2 World Series hole. St. Louis and Wacha try to even the best-of-seven Fall Classic at a game apiece tonight when they play Game 2 versus the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. The 2012 first-rounder, who was the compensation pick the Cardinals received from the Los Angeles Angels when Albert Pujols left as a free agent, has been absolutely magnificent this postseason. He outdueled Los Angeles Clayton Kershaw twice in the NLCS and has won all three of his postseason starts, while pitching to a 0.43 ERA. "I want the ball in big situations," Wacha said. "Theres none bigger than the World Series." Since closing the regular season with 8 2/3 no-hit innings, Wacha, the NLCS MVP, has pitched 21 postseason innings, limiting the Pittsburgh Pirates and Dodgers to one run on eight hits. "He throws hard," Boston outfielder Shane Victorino said. "Thats about all I know. Ill watch some video, see what he features. I understand hes good. Thats why he was NLCS MVP, not for any reason besides the fact that hes good." St. Louis will need him to be on his game Thursday after it was shut down by Jon Lester in Game 1. Lester limited the Cardinals to five hits and struck out eight over 7 2/3 scoreless innings as Boston took Game 1, 8-1. The Red Sox jumped on Adam Wainwright early via Mike Napolis three-run double in the first inning, and David Ortiz added a home run and three RBI in the rout -- Bostons ninth straight World Series victory. St. Louis did not record an extra-base hit against Lester (1-0), committed three errors and lost All-Star slugger Carlos Beltran to a right rib contusion in the second inning when the right fielder robbed Ortiz of a grand slam. "We had a wake-up call," said St. Louis manager Mike Matheny. "This is not the kind of team that weve been all season. And theyre frustrated, Im sure embarrassed to a point. Youre going to have games like that periodically. But if you begin to accept that, then this could really not go anywhere." X-rays and a CT scan came back negative, and Beltran is considered day-to-day. Wainwright (0-1) only lasted five frames after getting touched for five runs -- three earned -- on six hits for the NL champs, whose only offense came on Matt Hollidays home run in the ninth. "We went right after them. We pounded them in," said Lester, who became the third pitcher in World Series history to post scoreless starts in his first two Fall Classic outings. "We wanted to set the tone and get them swinging." History could be on the Red Sox side as nine of the last 10 and 14 of the previous 16 Game 1 winners have gone on to win the series. Also, since 1993, every home team to win Game 1 has gone on to win the World Series. Boston will turn to another battle-tested veteran in Game 2 in John Lackey, who hasnt pitched in the World Series since Game 7 in 2002, when -- as a rookie -- he led the Angels to their first championship. "It is a big game," Lackey said. "Theres no running from that. And its something youve got to embrace. Its something youve got to enjoy." If anyone doubted whether or not Lackey was fully recovered from Tommy John surgery they need to look no further than his Game 3 performance against the Detroit Tigers that saw him outduel Justin Verlander and give control of the ALCS to the Red Sox. Lackey, who will be pitching on eight days rest Thursday night, tossed 6 2/3 scoreless innings in that one and is 2-0 this postseason with a 3.00 ERA. "This is a veteran with a lot of success in the past, including postseason success," said Red Sox skipper John Farrell. "Given the challenges hes come through in the time hes been in Boston, were glad hes not only come back from Tommy John, but regained the form he had pre-injury." Lackey has pitched to a 3.10 ERA in 91 postseason innings, but has never faced the Cardinals at any point in his 11-year career. "Theyre good," said Lackey, who had a 2.47 ERA at home this season. "Theyre in the World Series. Theres no bad teams left. Theyve got a really good offense. Its really deep. Really similar to an American League lineup, for sure." Game 3 of this series is scheduled for Saturday at Busch Stadium. Ulogujte se da bi ste vidjeli ovaj Link... . Jurrjens signed a minor league contract with Cincinnati in May, and was 2-3 with a 4.46 ERA at Triple-A Louisville. He has a 53-37 record with a 3.63 ERA in seven major league seasons, including five with Atlanta. Ulogujte se da bi ste vidjeli ovaj Link... . Dan Uggla hit two home runs, including a grand slam in the ninth inning, Monday night that lifted Atlanta to a wild 9-6 win over the Philadelphia Phillies. Ulogujte se da bi ste vidjeli ovaj Link... . LOUIS - Allen Craig was sore a day after his base-running adventure to end Game 3 of the World Series, but the Cardinals expect him to be available. Ulogujte se da bi ste vidjeli ovaj Link... . The steady progress of Devin Harris had a lot to do with the surge. Nowitzki scored 23 points, Harris had a season-high 16 and the Mavericks pulled away from Cleveland 124-107 Monday night, handing the Cavaliers their fifth straight loss. Ulogujte se da bi ste vidjeli ovaj Link... .S. Open loss to Kei Nishikori of Japan, as he prepares for a Davis Cup playoff against Columbia next week that will determine whether Canada remains in the elite World Group.LONDON - The Czech Republic became the first team to reach the Davis Cup semifinals Saturday, while heavily favoured Switzerland had another disappointing loss in the doubles and France kept alive its quarterfinal against Germany. The defending champion Czechs clinched an unassailable 3-0 lead over Japan after Radek Stepanek and Lukas Rosol comfortably beat Tatsuma Ito and Yasutaka Uchiyama 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 in the doubles. Thats the only quarterfinal that has gone according to script so far, as Switzerland and France both find themselves down 2-1 going into the reverse singles on Sunday. Many expected Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka to have wrapped up Switzerlands best-of-five series against Kazakhstan by now as well, but the former Olympic doubles champions were beaten 6-4, 7-6 (5), 4-6, 7-6 (6) by Andrey Golubev and Aleksandr Nedovyesov. That came after Wawrinka lost his singles match to Golubev on Saturday, meaning theres no more room for mistakes for the heavily favoured Swiss. "Im actually very excited for tomorrow," Federer said. "We are still the favourites for each singles match tomorrow, but with no more margin for error and were aware of that." Germany entered its quarterfinal without its top three players, but Tobias Kamke and Peter Gojowczyk surprisingly won their opening singles matches to give the vvisitors a 2-0 lead on Friday against France.dddddddddddd However, Julien Benneteau and Michael Llodra held their nerve to beat Andre Begemann and Kamke 6-1, 7-6 (5), 4-6, 7-5 to stay in the series. "Were still alive. It was a great performance from Julien and Mika. Its very hard to play when youre 2-0 down because you have no room for error," France captain Arnaud Clement said. "They deserve it because they really pushed themselves." In Sundays matches, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is scheduled to play Kamke, and Benneteau faces Gojowczyk. Andy Murray was the busiest player of the day as he first had to complete a 6-4, 7-5, 6-3 victory over Italys Andreas Seppi in their delayed singles match, before returning to the court to help Britain take a 2-1 lead with a win in the doubles. Murray and Colin Fleming beat Fabio Fognini and Simone Bolelli 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 7-5 to boost Britains bid to reach the semifinals for the first time since 1981. Rain delays had interrupted play in Naples on Friday and Murrays match was suspended because of darkness in the second set. Murray can secure the victory when he plays Fognini on Sunday. "It should be a tough match," Murray said. "Fabio has played very well this year so itll be a great challenge. But I hope I can have a good match and get us to the semis." Ulogujte se da bi ste vidjeli ovaj Link... Ulogujte se da bi ste vidjeli ovaj Link... Ulogujte se da bi ste vidjeli ovaj Link... Ulogujte se da bi ste vidjeli ovaj Link... Ulogujte se da bi ste vidjeli ovaj Link... Ulogujte se da bi ste vidjeli ovaj Link... Ulogujte se da bi ste vidjeli ovaj Link... Ulogujte se da bi ste vidjeli ovaj Link... ' ' '
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