Jon Lester's 7 2/3 Shutout Innings Sends Series Back to Boston; Red Sox Lead, 3-2

Players of the Day for Monday, October 28, 2013

World Series Game Five

Jon Lester

Boston's Jon Lester was rock-solid in Game One - an 8-1 Red Sox Rout - and turned in another shining performance in Game Five of the 2013 World Series, to put St. Louis in a hole, three games to two, and send the series back to Boston.

Lester subdued St. Louis bats for 7 2/3 innings Monday night, yielding only a fourth-inning, Matt Holliday home run which tied the game at 1-1, but his teammates came back with a pair of scores off Cardinal starter, Adam Wainwright, in the seventh, producing a 3-1 win for the Red Sox.

Lester allowed four hits, struck out seven and issued no walks, many St. Louis batters completely off-balance against the post-season master, who scored his second World Series win this season and is 4-1 with a 1.56 ERA during the playoffs in 2013.

With the 3-2 lead in games, the series heads back to Boston for game six on Wednesday and, if necessary, game seven, Thursday night.

First pitch is slated for 8:07 pm EDT. John Lackey gets the nod for Boston; Michael Wacha goes to the mound for St. Louis.

Today's Trivia: The record for career shutouts by a pitcher in the World Series is four. Who holds claim to that mark? (answer Thursday)

Yesterday's Answer: Mickey Mantle holds the all-time World Series career total bases record, 123.