Boston Red Sox have completed an 8-1 demolition of the St Louis Cardinals in game one of the World Series at Fenway Park.
There was further bad news for the Cardinals as right fielder Carlos Beltran had to be taken to hospital after colliding with the right-field wall at the bottom of the second, with scans later confirming a rib contusion.
The home side took an early 3-0 lead as Jacoby Ellsbury, Dustin Pedroia and David Ortiz crossed the plate at the bottom of the first innings.
Two more runs followed in the second thanks to Stephen Drew and David Ross, but the visiting team managed to stem the flow for the next five innings.
However, Ortiz hit a home run in the bottom of the seventh before Pedroia put another one on the board for the Red Sox.
Daniel Nava stretch the lead to 8-0, but the shutout was spoiled by a ninth-innings homer by Matt Holliday.
The next game of their seven-match series gets underway at Fenway just after 1am (BST) tomorrow.
Michael Penkman
