The Red Sox are World Series champions, and they’re celebrating that accomplishment in front of their hometown fans for the first time since 1918.
Red Sox starter John Lackey battled through a bit of early shakiness to deliver 6 2/3 innings of one-run ball and the inspired Boston offense pounded rookie sensation Michael Wacha in a 6-1 Game 6 win over the visiting Cardinals on Wednesday night at a jam-packed and now-champagne-soaked Fenway Park.
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Lackey surrendered nine hits and a walk and the Cardinals seemed to make hard contact off him all night, but the St. Louis offense failed yet again to drive runners in. Junichi Tazawa, Brandon Workman and Koji Uehara combined to close it out.
The heroes on offense for the Red Sox were Shane Victorino, who opened the game’s scoring with a three-run double in the bottom of the third, and Stephen Drew, who emerged from his prolonged postseason slump to slug a solo home run in the fourth. Victorino -- a sudden fan favorite in Boston -- also had an RBI single.
It’s the third World Series championship for the Red Sox since 2004.
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Team of the century? They certainly have a nice head start.