BOSTON - After a 36-year break the Cardinals and Red Sox played another dramatic game.
The Cardinals won 9-7 Tuesday night at Fenway Park after blowing a five-run lead, making manager Tony La Russa's decision to walk the bases loaded a success.
"You just get excited to play here," winning pitcher Steve Kline said. "You get a different little vibe."
The last time the Cardinals played in Boston was in the seventh game of the 1967 World Series. Bob Gibson pitched a three-hitter and homered as St. Louis won 7-2.
That was the score Tuesday night until Boston tied it with three runs in the seventh and two in the eighth on Jason Varitek's ninth homer.
St. Louis won it with two runs in the ninth off Brandon Lyon on doubles by Jim Edmonds and Scott Rolen and a run-scoring single by Eduardo Perez. But first the Cardinals had to stop Boston's comeback.
"It's always like that at Fenway, even when I was with Seattle," said Tino Martinez, who spent six seasons with the Yankees before joining St. Louis last year. "They always come back."
The Red Sox led 2-0 after the first before a three-run homer by J.D. Drew in the fifth and a two-run shot by Albert Pujols in the seventh helped the Cardinals go ahead 7-2.
But it was 7-7 after Varitek's homer off Kiko Calero. Kline came in and got the second out before Todd Walker doubled.
Then La Russa went to the mound before Nomar Garciaparra and Manny Ramirez, who were a combined 5-for-8 to that point, came to the plate. He told Kline not to give Garciaparra anything good to hit and to walk Ramirez intentionally, even if that loaded the bases, and pitch to David Ortiz.
Kline threw sliders and got Ortiz on a broken-bat fly to medium rightfield, ending the eighth with the game tied.
The Red Sox have nine wins in their last at-bat, but Cal Eldred got his eighth save in 10 chances when he struck out two and allowed a single in the ninth.
DODGERS 3, TIGERS 1 (12): Alex Cora hit a two-run single in the top of the 12th to lead visiting Los Angeles. With two outs in the 12th, Steve Sparks gave up a walk to Jolbert Cabrera and a single to Adrian Beltre, then allowed both to advance on a wild pitch. Cora then singled up the middle. Paul Shuey held the Tigers scoreless in the 10th and 11th innings, striking out four and improving his ERA to 0.83.
CUBS 4, ORIOLES 0: Sammy Sosa doubled and scored visiting Chicago's first run, and Shawn Estes pitched seven innings of six-hit ball. Sosa went 2-for-5 to improve his average to .290. Estes struck out five, walked two and allowed one runner past second base. WHITE SOX 5, GIANTS 3: Miguel Olivo and D'Angelo Jimenez hit homers in the seventh inning as host Chicago overcame a long Barry Bonds home run to beat San Francisco. Jon Garland struck out a season-high seven for the White Sox in the first game that counted between the teams since Chicago beat the New York Giants 4-2 in the 1917 World Series, the last Series title for the White Sox.
BLUE JAYS 13, PIRATES 8: Carlos Delgado hit his AL-leading 20th home run, and Orlando Hudson and Josh Phelps connected for consecutive homers for host Toronto. Delgado, who leads the majors with 70 RBIs, reached 20 home runs for the eighth time, surpassing Joe Carter's club record of seven. He became the fastest Blue Jay to reach 70 RBIs, in 64 games.
ROCKIES 5, TWINS 0: Preston Wilson, Charles Johnson and Greg Vaughn each hit first-pitch home runs in support of Jason Jennings to lead visiting Colorado. Vaughn also doubled, going 2-for-4 for the Rockies, who brought the worst road record in the majors to the game and are 8-22 away from Coors Field. Jennings gave up three hits and four walks in 72/3 innings and struck out seven.
ANGELS 2, PHILLIES 1: John Lackey allowed one run over 61/3 innings and Tim Salmon scored the winning run on a wild pitch by Brandon Duckworth for host Anaheim. Lackey gave up five hits and two walks in his first career appearance against the Phillies. He struck out the side in the sixth inning to tie his career-high of eight strikeouts.
ROYALS 7, DIAMONDBACKS 3: Carlos Beltran had three hits and three RBIs, and Desi Relaford drove in the go-ahead run with a single in the seventh inning for host Kansas City. Brent Mayne also had three hits for the Royals, who rallied from a 3-0 deficit in a game delayed 1 hour, 45 minutes by rain at the start.
INDIANS 8, PADRES 5: Rookie Brandon Phillips hit a two-run single in host Cleveland's six-run first inning as the Indians rallied. Cleveland trailed 4-0 before coming up for the first time. Brian Buchanan homered for the Padres, who dropped to an NL-worst 19-46.
RANGERS 9, METS 7: Rafael Palmeiro hit his 504th homer, Michael Young and Hank Blalock each hit a two-run shot and host Texas avoided its first 10-game losing streak since 1995. Palmeiro connected leading off the seventh against Pedro Feliciano to make it 9-4, tying Eddie Murray for 18th on the career list.
EXPOS 7, MARINERS 3: Ace Javier Vazquez pitched six solid innings and Endy Chavez homered and drove in a career-high four runs as visiting Montreal won its fifth straight. Playing Seattle for the first time, the Expos sent Gil Meche to his first loss in five starts since May 10.
A'S 4, BRAVES 3 (12): Jermaine Dye homered to lead host Oakland in the first game between the teams since the 1914 World Series. Robert Fick tied the game in the ninth with a solo homer off Keith Foulke.
National League
MARLINS 12, BREWERS 4: Derrek Lee homered twice to back Mark Redman and visiting Florida. Lee hit a two-run homer in a four-run first inning, then homered in the fourth. Lee, who was 3-for-5, had his third multihomer game this season, eighth of his career, and raised his season homer total to 12. He began the day in a 1-for-16 slide since going 4-for-4 against Oakland on June 3.
