ST. LOUIS - The Cardinals can look a lot of places for inspiration and hope that they can come back from a 2-0 deficit and get back in the World Series.
They can look at postseason history, from the seven teams that won a Series after dropping the first two on the road, to their rally from a 3-2 deficit against Houston in the NL Championship Series, to the way the Red Sox just staged the biggest comeback of all in beating the Yankees after losing the first three.
They can look at the numbers, from their obvious problems pitching, such as walking 14 in 16 innings and having two starters allow 11 runs in 62/3 innings, to the obvious problems hitting, such as Scott Rolen and Jim Edmonds going a combined 1-for-16 with one RBI, to their obvious inability to take advantage of Boston's record eight errors.
They can look at the setting, from the 52,000 screaming red-clad fans who will be cheering truly, madly, deeply for them, to the more traditionally configured stadium where they had an NL-best 53-28 record and are 6-0 in the postseason, to the NL rules they are more used to that strip the Red Sox of their DH.
Or they can look at themselves.
"We know we can play with them," closer Jason Isringhausen said Monday. "It ain't like they just literally beat the c--- out of us. I'm not saying we played better than them, but we know we can play with them. We just have to take advantage of the opportunities we are getting."
The Cardinals' biggest problem in the first two games is that they haven't been the Cardinals.
"We haven't played bad baseball, we just haven't played good baseball," reliever Ray King said. "Nobody has given up. Nobody has called the movers to have the furniture picked up. We're not done yet."
The Red Sox have tried to help, especially with their sloppy defensive play. But the Cardinals have done very little with the opportunities, going 4-for-21 with runners in scoring position and leaving 15 men on.
"Boston has done a good job of being effective in the strike zone; that's a good way to hit," St. Louis manager Tony La Russa said. "Those are the kind of at-bats we have. I see a lot of them in us, and a lot of us in them. I think in the end, they're getting a few more pitches to hit."
Similarly, the St. Louis pitchers are not doing a good job against the Boston lineup.
"We've done a good job (all year) of not walking people, and we're walking more than we should," Isringhausen said. "I don't know if it's the World Series, or what, but I think we need to get back to being a little more aggressive. We might be giving them too much credit, trying to pitch around guys, maybe being a little tentative rather than going out and pounding the strike zone."
The biggest thing the Cardinals may need to do is relax.
"I think we're fine," reliever Dan Haren said. "We're confident, and we're not panicking. We win (tonight) and we're right back into it at 2-1 and it's a great series."
Having stunned the Yankees the way they did in the ALCS, and knowing the 1986 Boston team was stunned after winning the first two games at Shea Stadium and then losing to the Mets, the Red Sox insist they will not get overconfident.
"We've been in this situation," Boston's Kevin Millar said. "We know this series is not over. And it helps us to realize that."
And having seen how teams can come back, including their effort in the NLCS, the Cardinals insist they will be confident.
"I think you've got to personalize everything, and we came in here and won two games to win the series," La Russa said. "We played all year like a champion, with all the champion qualities, and one of those qualities is that when you get down you find a way to get back in it.
