Game 1 rout a good sign for the Sox

Sam Galanis
Contributing Writer

The Red Sox showed the St. Louis Cardinal’s that their offense was back by unloading an 8-1 drubbing on their ace Adam Wainwright for Game 1 Wednesday night. Not only does that set a great tone for the Sox for the Series, it also puts history on their side.

In the last 25 World Series, 21 of the 25 teams who won Game 1 went on to win it all. What’s more, four of the last five teams to win Game 1 by seven or more runs have gone on to win the series:

2007       Boston over Colorado           13-1        Boston wins 4-0
2001       Arizona over Yankees            9-1        Arizona wins 4-3
1996       Atlanta over Yankees            12-1       Yankees win 4-2
1990       Cincinnati over Oakland         7-0        Cincinnati wins 4-0
1987       Minnesota over St. Louis       10-1       Minnesota wins 4-3

The big win is also a good sign following a weak offensive ALCS. I’ll admit I was nervous about Wainwright. The Tigers rotation had quieted the Sox bats for so many innings that I was afraid of what St. Louis’s ace would be able to do. But the Sox showed that a few days rest did them a lot of good, and that the Cards will really have to work if they want to win the Series.

Mark L. Baer-USA TODAY Sports
However all Sox fans, especially those from the older generations, know that what can go wrong will go wrong. Winning one game is nothing to get carried away about. When you widen the pool of previous winners to the last teams to win by six or more runs in Game 1, only eight of the last 15 to do that have won the Series. And one of the teams to come back were none other than the 1982 St. Louis Cardinals who overcame a 10-0 beating from Milwaukee in Game 1 to go on and win it all. A loss like Wednesday night’s is only going to make this year’s Cards hungrier, and the Sox still have to pass through St. Louis before anyone can win.

But now that we’ve gotten the bleak facts out of the way, the situation for the Sox is still very hopeful. This is a team who has already overcome a lot, and to start the Series the way they did shows that they’re not done yet. Regardless of what happens, the Sox have set the stage for a great World Series.




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