Boston Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia and right fielder Shane Victorino were named Gold Glove Award winners as the best fielders at their position in the American League.
It was Victorino’s fourth time being honored, Pedroia’s third.
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Center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury was a finalist but was beaten out by Adam Jones of Baltimore.
The St. Louis Cardinals had two players win Gold Gloves: catcher Yadier Molina for the sixth straight season, and pitcher Adam Wainwright.
Colorado third baseman Nolan Arenado became the 10th rookie to win a Gold Glove and first since Seattle outfielder Ichiro Suzuki in 2001. Atlanta shortstop Andrelton Simmons and Baltimore third baseman Manny Machado also were among the eight first-time recipients.
BEING DOWN 3-2 in the World Series is nothing new to the Cardinals. They have been down 3-2 six times in club history and gone on to win the World Series five times, including in 1946 against the Red Sox.
Two of those comebacks took place at the opposing team’s ballpark – 1934 in Detroit and 1926 at Yankee Stadium.
Conversely, being up 3-2 hasn’t always helped the Red Sox. They have enjoyed 3-2 leads in four World Series and lost three of them – in 1986 (Mets), 1946 (Cardinals) and 1912 (Giants). In 1918, Boston led the Chicago Cubs 3-2, then won Game 6 at Fenway Park.
DAVID ORTIZ has a chance to break some league and team World Series records. Ortiz has 11 hits in the Series, two away from the all-time record held by three players (Bobby Richardson, Lou Brock and Marty Barrett).
Ortiz’s nine career extra-base hits in the World Series is a Red Sox record. Only Derek Jeter has more (13) among active players.
Ortiz also has 14 career RBI in the World Series, tying Dwight Evans for the club record.
JOHN LACKEY could become the first pitcher to start and win a World Series-clinching game for two teams. Lackey did it with the Angels in 2002.
ARBITRATION: Red Sox pitcher Felix Doubront and Seattle pitcher Charlie Furbush, a South Portland native, just missed the cutoff for salary arbitration eligibility.
The major league service time required for arbitration this offseason was 2 years, 122 days, according to calculations by the commissioner’s office and the players’ association.
Los Angeles Angels infielder Chris Nelson was the last player to make it among the 28 with enough service time. Furbush was the player closest to qualifying who missed, falling one day short. On Boston’s active major league roster all season, Doubront has 2 years, 120 days of service.
ORIOLES: Dave Wallace, 66, was hired as the pitching coach.
Wallace, who has spent the past four years as Atlanta’s minor league pitching coordinator, replaced Rick Adair, who left the team in mid-August for personal reasons.
Wallace been the pitching coach for the Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Mets, Boston and Houston. The Red Sox won the World Series with Wallace as pitching coach in 2004. New York went to the World Series in 2000 under Wallace.
TIGERS: Third baseman Miguel Cabrera underwent muscle repair surgery and is expected to be ready for spring training.
The Tigers revealed after the season that Cabrera had been limited down the stretch by a tear in his groin. He still hit .348 with 44 home runs and 137 RBI during the season. Cabrera batted .262 with two home runs in 11 postseason games before Detroit lost to Boston in the AL Championship Series.
WHITE SOX: Jose Abreu, 26, a Cuban slugger, finalized a six-year, $68-million deal, about a week and a half after the sides reached an agreement on the largest contract in franchise history. He is the organization’s 17th Cuban player and the third currently on the roster, joining shortstop Alexei Ramirez and outfielder Dayan Viciedo.
“I know there were other teams interested but the support that I would have from Cuban players like Alexei and Dayan and from the beginning, they were interested and showed their interest,” Abreu said through a translator. “When it came down to where it will be, it was pretty simple to pick the White Sox.”
RATINGS: The Cardinals played a pivotal World Series game at home the same day that the struggling Rams hosted “Monday Night Football.” More than four times as many households in the metropolitan area were tuned in to baseball than football.
The Cardinals were watched by an average of 14.4 million viewers nationally on Fox. The Rams’ 14-9 loss to Seattle avaeraged 10.8 million viewers on ESPN. In St. Louis, the NFL game earned a combined 10.9 rating for ESPN. The baseball game drew a 43.8 rating in St. Louis and a 38.5 in Boston.
ST. LOUIS Manager Mike Matheny expects to have banged-up Allen Craig in the lineup for Game 6.
Craig missed more than a month because of a sprained left foot before returning for the World Series. The cleanup man and first baseman was the designated hitter for the first two games in Boston, and started one game in the field at St. Louis.
Craig is 4 for 12 in the Series. He doubled and scored the winning run on an obstruction call in Game 3, then later was held to a single when he hit a ball to the wall at Busch Stadium.
“I had a quick conversation with him. He said he felt good today. So that was a great response and what we wanted to hear,” Matheny said.
Matheny said he was still deciding where to put Carlos Beltran in the lineup. Beltran has hit in both the second and fourth slots.
“It could go either way. Running through multiple lineups. Many of them just on paper, scratching all over the place,” Matheny said. “We realize that this game comes down to the guys performing, but we do have a responsibility to put them in a position to give our team the best chance of success.”
RED SOX Manager John Farrell said he’s always enjoyed the atmosphere at Fenway Park. Standing on the mound, that was a different story.
“I pitched here, good and bad,” he said. “There’s been days when you wind up, you feel like The Wall is moving in as you’re making your delivery.”
Farrell, 51, was 36-46 in eight seasons with Cleveland, the Angels and Detroit. He went 1-4 with a 6.68 ERA in five starts at Boston, winning as a rookie in 1987 and giving up two home runs to John Valentin in 1993 in his Fenway finale.
“And yet the environment that’s in here to me is second to none. In June it’s a playoff atmosphere,” Farrell said. “The expectations of the fans keep our guys accountable to bring their ‘A’ game every night.”
The Game 6 starter, John Lackey, acknowledged it’s a tough ballpark for pitchers.
“It’s not a real great place to pitch. Obviously, with the left-field wall being so close and the right-field pole being even closer, it can definitely pose some challenges,” he said.
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