The score was:
Boston Red Sox 8; St. Louis Cardinals 1.
St. Louis was awful:
NPR's Mike Pesca calls the Cardinals' performance "classically-inept."
The Associated Press says the Cardinals "wrecked themselves with just their second three-error game of the season."
Boston was efficient:
"While St. Louis stumbled," the AP says, "Boston made the key plays." For example, "when the Cardinals tried to rally in the fourth and loaded the bases, [pitcher Jon] Lester neatly started a home-to-first double play on [Cardinal David] Freese's comebacker to end the inning."
A blown call was quickly corrected, and Boston was on its way:
In the first inning, Boston's David Ortiz hit what should have been an easy double-play ball. The closest umpire ruled that St. Louis shortstop Pete Kozma had caught a toss for an out at second base. But the ball had clearly gotten away from Kozma. The other five umpires quickly convened and overturned the call.
Moments later, Boston's Mike Napoli hit a three-run double. The Red Sox were on the way to an easy win.
For St. Louis, injury adds to insult:
Cardinals outfielder Carlos Beltran robbed Ortiz of a possible grand-slam home run in the second inning. But as he made the catch, Beltran hit one of the walls in Fenway Park. His bruised ribs mean Beltran may miss tonight's Game 2 (8:07 p.m. ET, in Boston again; Fox is the broadcaster).
Two headlines tell the story:
-- "Cards Self-Destruct In Game 1." (St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Jeff Gordon)
-- "Red Sox Roll Over Hapless Cardinals." (Boston Globe columnist Chad Finn)
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