ST. LOUIS (AP) — Jonny Gomes hit a tiebreaking, three-run homer in the sixth inning and the Boston Red Sox rallied to beat the St. Louis Cardinals 4-2 Sunday night, tying the World Series at two games each.
David Ortiz added three hits and also encouraged the Red Sox, shouting at his teammates from second base after a double and later gathering them for a huddle in the dugout.
With the Red Sox in danger of falling into a 3-1 deficit, it was a stroke of good fortune by Gomes — he was a late addition to the lineup when Shane Victorino’s back stiffened up, and was 0 for 9 in the Series before connecting off reliever Seth Maness.
Felix Doubront won in relief of starter Clay Buchholz. John Lackey made a rare relief appearance to set up for Koji Uehara’s save.
Game 5 is Monday night as Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright faces Jon Lester in a rematch of the opener when Boston romped. It’ll be a busy sports day in downtown St. Louis with the NFL matchup between the Rams and Seattle a few blocks away.
Even with the Cardinals holding a 2-1 edge, the sellout crowd at Busch Stadium sounded a little quiet at the start. Perhaps the fans were drained by the late-night theatrics Saturday, when an obstruction call gave St. Louis a 5- 4 win.
The rarely seen call remained the No. 1 topic at the ballpark before the game.