However, with the help of Matheny and general manager John Mozeliak, the Cardinals were able to stay in contention even with a roster consisting mostly of rookies, free-agent veteran additions, and a few holdovers from the 2011 championship team.

Wainwright's return to form, along with the emergence of the young starters, helped fill the void left by star pitcher Chris Carpenter, who missed the entire season due to various injuries.

The bullpen were also powered by youngsters, led by closer Trevor Rosenthal, set-up man Carlos Martínez, and middle relievers Seth Maness and Kevin Siegrist.

[15] In the aftermath of the infamous September collapse in 2011 and the ill-fated Valentine experiment of 2012, general manager Ben Cherington brought in Farrell, a former pitching coach under Terry Francona, and several role players in hopes of turning the Red Sox around.

The inspired play of the Red Sox took them from last place the previous season to American League East champions with a 28-game turnaround, helped by Farrell's calming presence and familiarity with some of the players.

The bullpen were led by closer Koji Uehara, who unexpectedly took over following injuries to Joel Hanrahan and Andrew Bailey to post 21 saves and a 1.09 ERA.

[citation needed] The top-seeded Red Sox opened the playoffs by defeating the fifth-seeded Tampa Bay Rays in four games in the Division Series.

Boston Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski threw the ceremonial first pitch,[23] as he had done before Game 1 in 2004 and 2007 while Mary J. Blige sang the national anthem.

Wainwright then got David Ortiz to ground to second base, but Matt Carpenter's flip was mishandled by shortstop Pete Kozma, ending the possibility of a double play.

With the bases loaded and one out, Mike Napoli doubled to left-center, scoring Ellsbury, Pedroia and Ortiz, the latter after Shane Robinson misplayed a carom off the wall.

Shane Victorino then hit a ground ball to deep short, but Kozma again mishandled it, his second error of the game, and once again the bases were loaded with one out.

Several members of the 2004 Red Sox championship team, including Pedro Martínez, threw ceremonial first pitches while Boston native James Taylor sang the national anthem.

The Red Sox threatened in the bottom half as the first two batters reached with Pedroia leading off with a double and David Ortiz drawing a walk.

Mike Napoli then grounded into a double play to partially kill the threat and Wacha got Jonny Gomes to pop out to Matt Carpenter to end the inning.

In the bottom of the ninth with the 4–2 lead, Cardinals closer Trevor Rosenthal entered the game and made quick work of the Red Sox by striking out Gomes, Saltalamacchia and pinch-hitter Daniel Nava on 17 pitches.

[28] The Cardinals got off to a good start in the bottom of the first inning, putting two on the board from RBI singles by Matt Holliday and Yadier Molina off of Boston starter Jake Peavy.

It wasn't until the top of the fifth inning before the Red Sox got on the board themselves, when pinch hitter Mike Carp grounded into a fielder's choice off Cardinals starter Joe Kelly.

Trevor Rosenthal came in to pitch, and the first batter he faced, Daniel Nava, grounded in to a fielder's choice, after a great diving stop by rookie second baseman Kolten Wong.

Hall of Famer and two-time World Series MVP Bob Gibson threw the ceremonial first pitch while country music group Rascal Flatts sang the national anthem.

[28] After Boston starter Clay Buchholz, pitching through a shoulder injury, was removed for a pinch-hitter after four innings, five Red Sox relievers combined to hold St. Louis to one run on three hits the rest of the way.

[28] In a rematch of the staff who faced off in Game 1, Jon Lester again outdueled Adam Wainwright to give the Red Sox a 3–2 series lead.

[41] Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame members Carlton Fisk and Luis Tiant, both of whom played in historic Game 6 of the 1975 World Series, threw ceremonial first pitches.

[42] Koji Uehara came in again to pitch a perfect ninth, striking out Matt Carpenter swinging to end the game, series, baseball season, and clinch their eighth overall title.

This was McCarver's 24th and final World Series broadcast (including four with ABC and four with CBS prior to his joining Fox in 1996), as he had announced that he would retire from the network's lead crew following the season.

The group's music was included in anything from "opening teases and commercial bumpers to montages, as well as additional promotional inventory across Fox prime-time and cable.

"[109] Major League Baseball International syndicated the television coverage outside Canada and the U.S., with English-language commentary provided by Baltimore Orioles play-by-play announcer Gary Thorne and ESPN analyst Rick Sutcliffe.

Mike Shannon and John Rooney called the games for the Cardinals on KMOX in St. Louis, while Joe Castiglione, Dave O'Brien, and Lou Merloni announced for the Red Sox on WEEI in Boston.

The 25 duck boats carrying the players and executives paused at the Boston Marathon finish line where three spectators died during the April bombing.

The Farrell era oversaw the departure of Ben Cherington and the entry of Dave Dombrowski as general manager, the retirement of David Ortiz following the 2016 season, and the emergence of Mookie Betts, Xander Bogaerts, Andrew Benintendi, Jackie Bradley Jr., Brock Holt, Christian Vázquez, Eduardo Rodríguez and Rafael Devers.

In 2014, the Cardinals made their fourth consecutive NLCS after a 90–72 finish and the NL Central title, but lost to the eventual champion San Francisco Giants 4–1.