News » Cardinals play a pivotal Game 5 of the World Series

(SportsNetwork.com) - Jon Lester eyes his fourth win this postseason on Monday when the Boston Red Sox and St. Louis Cardinals play a pivotal Game 5 of the World Series at Busch Stadium. Lester gave the Red Sox the early advantage in this series, as he scattered five hits over 7 2/3 scoreless innings to nail down the Game 1 win and improve to 3-1 this postseason, while lowering his ERA to 1.67. He is also 2-0 lifetime in the World Series and has yet to allow a run in 13 2/3 innings. "His physical strength and endurance is unique," said Red Sox manager John Farrell. "I think the one thing we all recognize is that power stuff wins in the postseason. Hes got it. He maintains it. And in addition to his physical strengths, theres a degree of concentration that hes capable of maintaining that gives him the ability to execute consistently." Of course, during his Game 1 win a St. Louis Cardinals minor leaguer tweeted out a picture and suggested that Lester may be hiding a foreign substance in his glove. Videos then surfaced and the story seemed to take on a life of its own before the Cardinals and Major League Baseball both said there was nothing to it. "Im sure theres going to be a focus on my glove and focus on my hands and what Im doing, but Ive got to worry about the Cardinals," said Lester. "If Im worried about what people are looking at, Im worried about the wrong things. Im going to go out and pitch my game." St. Louis, meanwhile, will turn to its ace Adam Wainwright, who will be trying to bounce back from a poor showing in that Game 1 assignment. Wainwright lost his second straight postseason start in that one and allowed five runs -- three earned -- and six hits in five innings. The NL wins leader this season with 19, Wainwright is 2-2 this postseason with a 2.25 ERA. "I honestly dont know why my mechanics were as bad as they were, why my delivery was off as much as it was," Wainwright said. "But I feel like Ive put in a lot of good reps in front of the mirror and watching film and feeling my delivery, learning the basics all over again. I feel like Ive made a lot of good adjustments to be ready to throw some quality pitches the next time. I threw maybe four or five quality pitches the whole time I was pitching (in Game 1)." Wainwright is 4-0 with a 1.07 ERA in eight postseason games -- four starts -- in St. Louis. Boston evened this best-of-seven set at two games apiece on Sunday with a 4-2 win, as Jonny Gomes cracked a three-run homer in the sixth inning to break a tie and David Ortiz reached base in all four plate appearances. The Red Sox bounced back nicely after losing Game 3 Saturday night on the first walk-off obstruction call in World Series history. Sundays game ended abruptly with a pickoff when Red Sox closer Koji Uehara caught Kolten Wong leaning off first base with Carlos Beltran at the plate as the tying run for the Cardinals. Wong said his foot slipped as he turned to get back to the bag. "I knew I was dead," said Wong. Gomes -- a late replacement when Shane Victorino was scratched from the lineup because of lower back tightness -- homered into the Boston bullpen behind left field with two outs off reliever Seth Maness, who had just entered for St. Louis starter Lance Lynn. "The one thing you can guarantee is when Im in the lineup, Im going to be swinging," said Gomes. Maness threw Gomes five sinkers, leaving the last one up in the zone. "I just missed my spot," said Maness. Beltran had an RBI single in the defeat for the Cardinals, who lost for the first time this postseason when scoring first (8-1). Of the previous 42 times that a World Series has been tied 2-2, the winner of Game 5 has gone on to win the series 27 times, but just three times in the last 10 occasions. This is the 10th time that St. Louis has been in this position and has won Game 5 just four times. However, it has gone on to win the series in eight of those instances. Boston, meanwhile, has been tied 2-2 three other times and has lost the series on all three occasions, despite winning Game 5 twice. This series will shift back to Fenway Park for Game 6 on Wednesday. Giorgio Chiellini Juventus Jersey . Canadas Kaillie Humphries and Heather Moyse will reunite at this weekends season-opening World Cup at Canada Olympic Park as they begin their buildup to the Winter Games in Sochi. Blaise Matuidi Jersey . To get things started, heres a little photo tour to get you acquainted with all the main characters. http://www.juventusfcpro.com/Kids-Paulo-Dybala-Jersey/ .com) - Jimmy Butler made four key free throws down the stretch to lift the Chicago Bulls over the Boston Celtics, 109-102, on Friday. Leonardo Spinazzola Jersey . - The Toronto Blue Jays have optioned pitchers Kyle Drabek, Chad Jenkins and Sean Nolin to triple-A Buffalo. Blank Juventus Jersey . Napoli beat high-flying Hellas Verona 3-0 to keep up the pressure on the top two while AC Milan had another disappointing night as four goals from teenage forward Domenico Berardi saw relegation-threatened Sassuolo come back from two goals down to win 4-3.FLORHAM PARK, N.J. -- The New York Jets open quarterback competition might already be case closed. At least, thats what Michael Vick thinks. As far as hes concerned, its very clearly Geno Smiths job to lose. "Im wishing the best for Geno," Vick said Thursday during the teams first open media session this off-season. "Im going to help him each and every day. Im going to help him get better. My thing is, when its my time to go out there and play, Ive got to be ready when my numbers called. And nothing can come in between that." Vick, who signed with New York in March, acknowledged this situation is different from last off-season with Philadelphia when he headed into workouts competing with Nick Foles for the starting job. "We knew, both of us coming in, that it was open competition, and the best guy was going to win the job," he said. "Whoever performed well throughout OTAs and preseason, thats just what it was. It was pretty much cut and dried. This situation ... its kind of unique. "But even though its not an open competition, were both competing every day and we both have to perform well each and every day." Coach Rex Ryan and general manager John Idzik have said that Vicks presence is expected to help Smith with his development from his shaky rookie season. Idzik preaches competition at every position, although Ryan has said Smith will be tough to beat out. "Its not been made public that its an open competition," Vick said. "Chip Kelly made it known that it was an open competition (in Philadelphia). But were still not going to change our approach. This is the NFL. Youve got to perform. Youve got to be at your best each and every day." Vick still believes he can be a starter in the NFL, and was playing well in Kellys up-tempo offence before a hamstring injury sidelined him. Foles took over and started the rest of the season. Vick was forced into a mentors role, and he drew praise from Kelly and the Eagles for how he handled the situation. He could find himself in the same situation this season. "Its still tough right now, Ill admmit," Vick said.dddddddddddd "I wont lie. Because deep down, you always want to be a starter. You always feel like youre starting. Thats just the competitive nature in me. And hopefully, that opportunity will come again one day and Ive just got to keep working for it." Despite all that, both Vick and Smith will be closely watched from now through training camp. If the two perform at about the same level, Vick is fairly certain of the outcome. "Yeah, I would assume Geno would be the starter," he said. "Genos making great strides." Smith isnt taking anything for granted, even if Vick already sees him as No. 1. The second-year quarterback knows hes got a long way to go after a season in which he threw 12 touchdown passes and was intercepted 21 times. He finished with a flourish, though, helping the Jets win three of their last four games and going without a turnover in the final two. "Mentally, I wont change," Smith said. "Ill compete as if Im the last guy on the depth chart trying to make this team. I think thats what makes me better and thats the way I work, and Ive always done that. The biggest difference is my familiarity with the offence, knowing my protections, not trying to come in and learn everything on the go. "Having 16 games under my belt is really going to pay off for me." Smith entered last spring in a competition with Mark Sanchez, but was thrust into the starting job when Sanchez was lost to a season-ending shoulder injury in the preseason. It was on-the-job training for Smith, who flashed at times but often looked very much like an inexperienced rookie. He enters this years competition as the incumbent, which often means that player starts with the lead -- something Smith refuses to consider. "I dont put my mind in that position," he said. "I try to work as if Im the underdog. Whether Im named the starter or not, thats the way that I work. Like I said, thats something that helps me, having that constant edge, having that chip on my shoulder, just working extremely hard every single day to get better." ' ' '