(SportsNetwork. Joakim Nordstrom Bruins Jersey .com) - The St. Louis Cardinals take aim at their second World Series title in three years, as they kick off the 109th edition of the Fall Classic against the Boston Red Sox tonight at Fenway Park. These teams havent met in interleague play since 2008, but are certainly no stranger to one another in the World Series, as this will be the fourth time these teams have faced off and the first since 2004 when the Red Sox, of course, ended their 86-year drought with a four-game sweep. St. Louis beat Boston in the World Series in 1946 and 67. You cant ask for a more balanced matchup, as both teams topped their respective leagues with a 97-65 mark. Actually, there home/road splits were almost identical, as well, with the Red Sox going 53-28 at home and 44-37 on the road, while the Cardinals were 54-27 and 43-38, respectively. Its also the first time since 1999 (Yankees and Braves) that the best teams in each league will be facing off in this round. "You hear some of the things that they say," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said of the Red Sox, "and its a lot of similar things that have been preached in our clubhouse. That its about team; its not about us individually. And grinding out at-bats and playing tough, playing hard, playing all the way through nine. Those are the things that I believe set good teams apart." St. Louis is back in the Fall Classic for the third time since 2004 after beating Pittsburgh in five games of the NLDS, then taking out the Los Angeles Dodgers in six games of the NLCS. Hoping to get them out to an early advantage in this series, the Cardinals will turn to right-handed ace Adam Wainwright in Game 1. Wainwright, the NL wins leader in the regular season with 19, has been terrific this postseason, going 2-1 with a 1.57 ERA in three starts. His only loss came in NLCS Game 3 against the Dodgers, as he allowed two runs and six hits in seven innings. "The guy that sets the tone for our club, especially our pitching staff," Matheny said of Wainwright. "Its fitting that hell be out there." Wainwright has three straight postseason starts of at least seven innings, with one or no runs allowed. Only three pitchers in history had more such consecutive starts in the postseason: Curt Schilling, Mike Mussina and Christy Mathewson. Offensively the Cards are paced by perhaps the best postseason hitter of this generation in Carlos Beltran, who has 37 RBI in 45 playoff games with an incredible 1.173 OPS. This, though, will mark his first-ever trip to the World Series. Beltran is only hitting .256 this October, but has driven in 12 runs in the Cards 11 games. As a team, the Cards are hitting a mere .210 in the postseason, but always seem to come up with a hit when they need one. "During the regular season, we went through ups and downs and we stood together," Beltran said. "We did it as a team, actually. It was fun just being able to watch the veteran guys try to help the younger guys -- being able to see the younger guys coming along and just coming here and do their job. It feels great." St. Louis struggling offense may get a boost, as first baseman Allen Craig is expected to be added to the roster. Craig hasnt played since Sept. 4 due to a a Lisfranc fracture to his left foot. Craig, who has yet to do any defensive work, will likely serve as the teams designated hitter. He finished the year leading the Cardinals with 97 RBI and a .454 batting average with runners in scoring position. What a difference a year makes for the Red Sox, who last year finished with 93 losses and ended the year in last place in the AL East. So, out with the old and in the new, as the team hired John Farrell away from Toronto to be their new skipper. All Farrell did was put himself atop most peoples AL Manager of the Year ballots, as he guided the Red Sox to a 28-game turnaround and led the club to its first AL East title since their World Series championship season of 2007. The 97 wins were also the second most for the team since 1978. Bostons regular season prowess has carried over to the postseason, as it needed only four games to upend the wild card-winning Tampa Bay Rays before eliminating the Detroit Tigers in six games in an exciting ALCS. "Weve got to win four more games," righty Clay Buchholz said. "But the way this team jelled and meshed right away in Spring Training, obviously every team in Major League Baseball has a goal to make the World Series and the playoffs from the start. Everybody here just believed it, and the numbers this year, they speak from themselves. The way guys grinded out at-bats throughout the season, passing the torch to the next guy -- its what this teams about." Offensively the Red Sox are still led by 37-year-old designated hitter David Ortiz, who put forth his seventh 30-homer/100-RBI season and hit .309 to boot. Ortiz is only hitting .200 this postseason, but may have changed the course of the ALCS with his game-tying grand slam in Game 2 against the Tigers. Ortiz, though, was just 1-for-15 after that pivotal blast. Boston was criticized for giving outfielder Shane Victorino a 3-year, $39 million deal this offseason, but the Flying Hawaiian was one of the teams top performers this season, hitting .294 with 15 home runs, 61 RBI, 82 runs scored and 21 stolen bases. Not to mention Victorino has had a penchant for coming up big in the postseason, as he has driven in 38 runs in 56 playoff games. Victorino propelled the Red Sox past the Tigers in the clinching game with a grand slam of his own in the eighth inning that put them ahead. Farrell, of course, was the Red Sox pitching coach under Terry Francona, and his impact was immediately evident, especially among the starting staff which saw their ERA decrease by nearly two runs from the prior season. Nobody benefited from having Farrell back more than Game 1 starter Jon Lester, who was a miserable 9-14 in 2012, but bounced back to go 15-8 this past season, while pitching to a 3.75 ERA. Lester is 2-1 this postseason with a 2.33 ERA. "Jonny Lester is just the epitome of a fighter, of a bulldog," teammate Jake Peavy said. "Hes our No. 1. Hes a horse. Hes our guy." The biggest reason Boston is this position, though, may be its bullpen, specifically ALCS MVP Koji Uehara, who has been the best closer in the league since assuming the role after injuries to both Joel Hanrahan and Andrew Bailey. Uehara, whose ERA was the best in the majors of any pitcher with 50 or more innings, also posted a mind-blowing 0.57 walks plus hits per nine innings - the lowest WHIP in baseball history by a pitcher who logged at least 50 innings, surpassing by a considerable margin the 0.61 standard set by Dennis Eckersley in 1989. He also hasnt walk a batter in his last 30 appearances and has pitched to a 0.61 ERA in his save chances. Its been more of the same for Uehara here in the postseason, as he has saved five games to go along with a 1.00 ERA. The only run he allowed was a walk-off home run in his ALDS Game 3 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays. St. Louis has won 11 World Series with its last coming in 2011 against Texas. Boston, meanwhile, has won seven titles, but hasnt won since sweeping the Colorado Rockies in 2007. The winner in Game 1 has gone on to win nine of the last 10 and 20 of the past 24 World Series. Danton Heinen Bruins Jersey .TV Series: Duck Dynasty. Ray Bourque Jersey . -- Adrian Peterson remained in a walking boot to treat a high ankle sprain on his left leg on Wednesday, and coach Leslie Frazier said he will not play on Sunday against Atlanta if he cant hit the practice field in the next two days. http://www.thebostonbruinshockey.com/milan-lucic-hockey-jersey/ . His actions are much louder on the Fenway Park mound. De La Rosa had another strong home start, going seven solid innings to lift the Boston Red Sox to a 2-1 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Saturday night.LOS ANGELES, Calif. - Clayton Kershaws first home win of the season was a perfect example of how the two-time Cy Young Award winner has made a living out of pitching through early adversity and getting stronger as the game goes along. Kershaw shrugged off a two-run homer by Jose Abreu in the rookies return from the disabled list, and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Chicago White Sox 5-2 Monday night. "It was one pitch. Thats all it was tonight. One pitch. But he was great all the way to his last one," Dodgers catcher Drew Butera said. Kershaw (4-2) allowed four hits over eight innings, striking out nine and walking none. Kenley Jansen got three outs for his 17th save. "I think Kershaw just continues to fight no matter what. If they get him once, hes going to keep it right there," Dodgers pitching coach Rick Honeycutt said. "Hes not happy about the home run, but hes able to put it behind him and keep going. Thats the sign of a guy with a short memory. The great ones dont worry about the past. They just know what theyve got to do going forward." Justin Turners two-run single keyed a five-run sixth inning in which all the Dodgers runs were unearned. "Thats how you win games. You take advantage of one little mistake, and a lot of times it ends up rolling into a big inning," outfielder Scott Van Slyke said. "Good teams do that. When they get the opportunity, they take advantage." Jose Quintana (3-5) gave up six hits through six innings and was charged with all five unearned runs. The Dodgers parlayed two infield errors, four singles and a walk into the five-run rally that put them ahead. All the runs came with two outs. Kershaw led off with a single and Matt Kemp reached on one-out grounder that went under second baseman Gordon Beckhams glove for an error with the infield overshifted to the left side. Yasiel Puig struck out on a high fastball and slammed his bat in frustration, but the Dodgers got a break when third baseman Conor Gillaspie fielded Hanley Ramirezs grounder behind the bag and bounced his throw past first base as Kershaw scored. "He had a chance to get the force at third, but thats an error and thats part of it," Chicago manager Robin Ventura said. "Q pitched a great game, going inning for inning with Kershaw, and he deserved a better fate. Theres no two ways about it. But when you dont play defence, and give a team like that opportunities, you leave that littlle crack in the door. Charlie Coyle Bruins Jersey. And they kicked it wide open." Adrian Gonzalez drove in Kemp with an infield hit, and Quintana gave up a two-run single to Turner and an RBI single to Butera after a walk to Van Slyke. "Its always fun to get hits, and its always fun when youre part of the run-scoring," Kershaw said. "Sometimes with us, it takes a couple times to get through the lineup. I knew if I just kind of kept us in the game, gave us a chance, we were going to break out." Kershaw needed only 12 pitches to get through the first two innings and retired his first 10 batters before Beckham singled and Abreu followed with his 16th homer. The Cuban slugger was leading the majors in homers and ranked second in RBIs with 42 before missing 14 games with tendinitis in his left ankle. The White Sox were 8-6 in his absence. "It was nice, coming against a guy like Kershaw," Ventura said. "It didnt seem like he missed too much of a beat. When we have that guy swinging the bat good, were a better offence." The only other baserunner the White Sox had against Kershaw through the first six innings was Moises Sierra, who hit a dribbler to the right of the mound and beat the left-handers throw to first base with two outs in the fifth. Kershaw, who led the majors in ERA each of the previous three seasons, made only 66 pitches through six. "I was throwing strikes. They were swinging and my pitch count was low those first four, five innings," Kershaw said. "Theyve got some aggressive guys over there. It doesnt really bother me as long as I make my pitches early." NOTES: The Dodgers announced after the game that RHP Chris Withrow will undergo Tommy John surgery Tuesday. ... Abreu set major league rookie records for homers (10), RBIs (32), extra-base hits (19) and total bases (71) in April and was named AL rookie of the month. ... Beckham committed another error in the seventh, booting a routine grounder by Puig. ... Abreu and Puig, teammates with Cienfuegos before defecting from Cuba to the United States, are among six Cuban-born players in uniform for this series. The others are Alexei Ramirez, Dayan Viciedo, Adrian Nieto, and the Dodgers Erisbel Arruebarrena. ... Ventura gave 1B-DH Adam Dunn the night off even though he is 8 for 13 against Kershaw with four home runs. ... Quintana has not allowed a home run in 43 1-3 innings over his last seven starts, after giving up one in each of his previous four outings. ' ' '