The St. Louis Cardinals play the Boston Red Sox on Thursday in Game 2 of the 2013 World Series. The game starts at 8:07 p.m. ET. Listen to the live radio broadcast HERE.
Boston claimed Game 1 of the World Series with an 8-1 win. Red Sox pitcher Jon Lester, who came under fire for allegedly cheating in Game 1, allowed no runs and fanned eight batters in the opener.
John Lackey (2-0, 3.00 ERA) will be asked to follow up Lester's performance in Game 2. He's been criticized for underperforming after signing a massive contract after the 2009 season, but the pitcher proved his worth in Game 3 of the ALCS, where he struck out eight Detroit hitters in a 1-0 win, ESPN reports.
"I'm not really concerned about some of that outside stuff," Lackey told reporters, via ESPN. "I know who I was in the clubhouse and where I stood with the guys in the clubhouse. That means more to me than anything. You want to be on a good team. You want to try to help out the boys. You want to pull your weight. And that's been fun this year."
Michael Wacha (3-0, 0.43 ERA) is tasked with limiting Boston's offense on Thursday. He's played well in the postseason, including saving the Cardinals from elimination in the NL division series and closing out the NL championship series against the Dodgers in Game 6.
His performance earned him the NLCS MVP award.
"I'm just trying not to think too much about it, just trying to approach every game the same, trying not to get too caught up in the moment," Wacha said. "I'm sure after the season, I'll be able to look back and think about, 'Hey, I pitched in the World Series,' and that kind of stuff. So, you know, right now just trying to get focused on the next start coming up and just go from there."
