The Boston Red Sox and St. Louis Cardinals will face off in the 2013 World Series starting Wednesday night.
The Red Sox defeated the Detroit Tigers at Saturday night's American League Championship, and St. Louis beat the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Championship Friday night.
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Game 1 of the best-of-seven series will kick off in Boston's Fenway Park on Wednesday, Oct. 23 at 8:07 p.m. EDT.
The two teams last faced each other for the championship in the 2004 World Series where Boston swept St. Louis 4-0. The Cardinals had the best win–loss record in the National League that year, and the Red Sox earned their playoff spot through an American League wild card slot.
This time around, the Cardinals and Red Sox had the best records in their leagues and were tied for the best all-around record, with both teams having 97 wins and 65 losses.
Though their stats mirror each other, one of the most noticeable differences between the teams is their physical appearances. The Cardinals players have clean shaven faces while the Red Sox roster is filled with bearded or slightly unshaven ballplayers.
Though both ball teams have impressive hitting and pitching lineups, the Red Sox are expected to have the edge behind the plate, having led the majors in runs in both the regular and postseason. The Sox's Shane Victorino demonstrated that power with a grand slam during Friday night's game that clinched pennant for Boston over Detroit.
The Cardinals, meanwhile, might have an edge on the mound. Cardinals pitchers have the best earned-run average in the playoffs thus far, limiting the Dodgers to just 13 runs in six games,
the Los Angeles Times noted.
Though the teams seem evenly matched, the Red Sox are the slim favorite over the Cardinals and have home field advantage, with four of the games played at Fenway Stadium and three in St. Louis if the series goes to seven games.
Winning their last title in 2011, beating out the Texas Rangers in a series that went to Game 7, the Cardinals have won 11 MLB championships over their history compared with the Red Sox, which have won seven. The last time the Red Sox won was in 2007 against the Colorado Rockies, which they swept 4-0.
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