The St. Louis Cardinals regained their footings after defeating the Boston Red Sox in Game 2 with a 4-2 score. Now the series is tied at 1-1. Although the ALCS winner was rocked with a humiliating loss of 1-8 to Boston, the Cardinals have toughen up their games.
Tonight's World Series Game 3 will feature Cardinal's starter Joe Kelley and Red Sox's Jake Peavy. Boston's pitcher Clay Buchholz is pushed back to Game 4 because of his injury complications. As with every matchup, Game 3 will be largely determined by the starting pitching between the two teams' pitchers.
Joe Kelley, 25, was 10-5 with a 2.69 ERA in the regular season, but his best record achieved was 9-2 with an 1.91 ERA after the All-Star break. In the postseason, his ERA dropped to 4.41. On the other hand, Jake Peavy has a 10.31 ERA and 1.96 WHIP in his postseason record. Comparing the two, Cardinals appear to have an upper hand in Game 3.
Moreover, Cardinals' dynamic duo Matt Holliday and Carlos Beltran have both seen Peavy more than two dozen times, and both have hit Peavy hard. In his 25 plate appearances, Beltran is hitting .400/.480/.800 with three doubles, a triple, a homer and six RBI. However, Beltran hurt his ribs in Game 1 crashing into the right field wall catching Boston's David Ortiz would be grand slam. While his CT scans and X-rays came back positive, it is uncertain if he can perform as well as he had before the injury.
Assuming that both Holliday and Beltran are in their top shape, Peavy must overcome the two. Boston must also score some runs early and often. The team's manager, John Farrell, likely the AL Manager of the Year, has made changes in the lineup to not only help Peavy's case, but also make it difficult for St. Louis Kelley.
According to stats, World Series Game 3 winner leans toward the St. Louis Cardinals, but based upon Boston's first game win, the chances of either team winning tonight depends on execution accuracy and strategic decision-makings.
