Riding a One-Away Train

ST. LOUIS â€”  It appears the Boston Red Sox will not be satisfied with merely breaking the dreaded Curse of the Bambino.

They want to crush it like the fastball Manny Ramirez belted into the left-field seats in the first inning Tuesday night, bury it like the changeups Pedro Martinez struck out Reggie Sanders on in the fourth and Tony Womack on in the fifth, stomp all over it like they’ve flattened the St. Louis Cardinals so far in this World Series.

Martinez, the erstwhile Boston ace who has taken a back seat to Curt Schilling’s postseason heroics, the diminutive right-hander whose durability and dominance have been questioned all year, threw a gem Tuesday night, shutting out the Cardinals on three hits over seven innings to lead the Red Sox to a 4-1 Game 3 victory in front of 52,015 in rain-soaked Busch Stadium.

Ramirez also made the game’s biggest defensive play -- this is not a misprint -- by throwing out a runner at the plate in the first, and he, Trot Nixon and Bill Mueller added run-scoring singles for the Red Sox, who took a commanding three-games-to-none lead in the best-of-seven series.

Ten days ago, this Red Sox outfit was three outs away from getting swept by the New York Yankees in the American League championship series.

Seven consecutive postseason wins later, Boston is one victory -- one victory -- away from its first World Series championship since 1918 and a wild New England celebration that has been 86 years in the making.

“This is tremendous, it really is, we’re one win away, and to do it for this city would be unbelievable,� Red Sox first baseman Kevin Millar said. “What a thrill it would be for our fans to tear up those ‘1918’ signs.

“But coming off that series against the Yankees, we know the Cardinals are capable of doing the same thing. We have to keep our foot on their throats and find a way to get that last win.�

All 20 teams that built 3-0 World Series leads went on to win, with 17 taking Game 4 for the sweep. But history doesn’t mean much to these Red Sox after they carved out such a big chunk of it last week, beating the Yankees to become the first major league team to overcome a 3-0 deficit and win a seven-game series.

“I’m sure our fans are excited, but right now we’re a focused ballclub,� Millar said. “We realize St. Louis is a very competent team. We’ve got to put the hammer down.�

Martinez did Tuesday night. After struggling with his command in the first three innings, Martinez retired 14 consecutive batters before giving way to reliever Mike Timlin to start the eighth.

Adjusting to umpire Brian Gorman’s strike zone, which was a little lower than Martinez was accustomed to, Martinez incorporated a devastating changeup to go with his fastballs, cut-fastballs and curves. He struck out six and walked two in what could be his last start in a Red Sox uniform. Martinez will be a free agent this winter.

“I hope it’s not the last one, but if it is, I just want the fans and everybody to understand that I did whatever possible to represent the city and the team well,� Martinez said. “My heart will always be with them.�

The heart of a proud St. Louis franchise was on display early Tuesday night when former Cardinal slugger Stan Musial threw out the ceremonial first pitch to former Cardinal ace Bob Gibson. That turned out to be the only Cardinal highlight of the night.

St. Louis loaded the bases with one out in the first for Jim Edmonds, who lofted a fly ball to shallow left. Larry Walker, who was on third, decided to test the arm of Ramirez, recently voted the worst outfielder in baseball according to a Sports Illustrated Internet poll of scouts.

This time Ramirez charged in for the catch and fired an accurate one-hop throw to catcher Jason Varitek, who applied the tag to Walker’s shoulder, ending the inning.

“There were 50-some thousand people screaming, going crazy, bases loaded, and we come out of that inning not giving up anything,� Red Sox Manager Terry Francona said. “It was a big boost for us.�

A third-inning baserunning gaffe by St. Louis pitcher Jeff Suppan was a crushing blow for the Cardinals. Down, 1-0, with Suppan on third, Edgar Renteria on second, no out, and the Red Sox infield back, conceding a run, Walker hit a routine grounder to second that should have scored Suppan and advanced Renteria to third.

But Suppan, thinking third base coach Jose Oquendo had said “no� instead of “go,� froze. Suppan finally broke for home as second baseman Mark Bellhorn flipped to first, but Suppan froze again between third and home.

David Ortiz, the designated hitter who started at first because the Red Sox needed to keep his bat in the lineup, threw accurately to third to nail Suppan as he tried to scamper back to the bag. Albert Pujols grounded out to end the inning.

“It was a big break, and we took advantage of it,� Martinez said. “Once they didn’t score in that inning, I said, ‘It’s up to me now.’ �

Martinez shut down the Cardinals from there, and Timlin retired the side in order in the eighth before closer Keith Foulke gave up a solo homer to Walker in the ninth, ending a string of 18 Cardinal outs.

If the Cardinals need inspiration, they have to look no farther than the third base dugout tonight. The Red Sox showed last week that the impossible can happen.

“It’s something you’ve got to notice; it shows it’s possible,� Cardinal Manager Tony La Russa said. “I think the one thing I’m absolutely confident about is that we’ve come too far to give an effort that will embarrass anybody [tonight].�