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World Series Game Six play-by-play

(Reuters) - Play by play of Wednesday's Game Six in Major League Baseball's World Series between the Boston Red Sox and St. Louis Cardinals at Fenway Park. Pre-game: Boston lead the best-of-seven series 3-2 and can clinch the title if they win Game Six. The teams split the first two games at Fenway Park with the Red Sox winning the opener 8-1 and the Cardinals taking the second game 4-2. St. Louis won Game Three, when the series switched to Busch Stadium, 5-4 on an obstruction call, then Boston won Game Four 4-2 and Game Five 3-1. St. Louis made three changes to their starting lineup. Matt Adams returned to first base while Allen Craig moved to designated hitter. Jon Jay replaced Shane Robinson at center field and Daniel Descalso returned to shortstop for Pete Kozma. Rookie pitcher Michael Wacha, who won Game Two, returned to the mound. The Red Sox made two changes. Mike Napoli returned to first base, allowing David Ortiz to move back to designated hitter. Shane Victorino replaced Daniel Nava at right field after missing the last two games with back pain. John Lackey was named as the starting pitcher. American Celtic punk music group Dropkick Murphys performed the national anthem. This is what the rival managers said just before the game. John Farrell (Red Sox): "Our guys know where we are. We know what's in front of us here tonight and possibly tomorrow." Mike Matheny (Cardinals): "We know there's going to be those days where you're going to have to scratch and claw, you're going to have to play great defense, and you're going to have to have great pitching match up with great pitching. But other days we have the offense, we have the belief in our offense, so we can go out and score runs off anybody." - - Starting Lineups: St. Louis: Matt Carpenter (2B), Carlos Beltran (RF), Matt Holliday (LF), Allen Craig (DH), Yadier Molina (C), Matt Adams (1B), David Freese (3B), Jon Jay (CF), Daniel Descalso (SS), Michael Wacha (P) Boston: Jacoby Ellsbury (CF), Dustin Pedroia (2B), David Ortiz (DH), Mike Napoli (1B), Jonny Gomes (LF), Shane Victorino (RF), Xander Bogaerts (3B), Stephen Drew (SS), David Ross (C), John Lackey (P) - - 1st inning Lackey made a confident start for the Red Sox, retiring Carpenter, Beltran and Holliday in order with just 10 pitches. Wacha struck out Ellsbury but was lucky not to give up a run when Pedroia belted the first pitch he faced over the wall but just outside the foul pole before grounding out. He walked Ortiz then struck out Napoli. St. Louis 0, Boston 0 - - 2nd inning Lackey survived a tough second inning. Craig and Molina singled and both advanced an extra base on a wild pitch. But Lackey finished off the inning without any damage when he struck out Jay swinging. Wacha gave up his first hit when Gomes, whose three-run homer in Game Four tied the series at 2-2, singled to center. Victorino was walked, putting runners on first and second, but Wacha struck out Ross to end the inning. St. Louis 0, Boston 0 - - 3rd inning Carpenter singled to center, giving the Cardinals their third hit in as many innings, but a double play snuffed out any hope of getting an early run. The Red Sox took the lead with a three-run double from Victorino. Ellsbury had singled to right then advanced to second when Pedroia grounded out at third. Ortiz, who batted .733 in the first five games, was intentionally walked. Wacha struck out Napoli then hit Gomes before Victorino blasted a shot off the Green Monster, allowing Ellsbury, Pedroia and Ortiz to score. St. Louis 0, Boston 3 - - 4th inning Craig singled to left then advanced to second when Molina made it to first off an error from Pedroia but Lackey chalked up his thid strikeout when Freese went down looking The Red Sox threatened to turn the game into a rout with three more runs, which started when Drew belted a 391-foot homer off Wacha into the St. Louis bullpen. Ellsbury doubled to deep right, advanced to third when Pedrioa flied out to Beltran in right then scored when Napoli singled to center. Ortiz, intentionally walked again, scored his second run of the night when Victorino singled to left. Wacha was relieved by Lance Lynn after two outs. Lynn was then relieved by Seth Maness. St. Louis 0, Boston 6 - - 5th inning Another fruitless innings for the Cardinals. Jay reached first base on an infield single to shortstop then advanced to second when Carpenter singled to right. But they counted for nothing as Lackey escaped the inning without conceding any runs. The Cardinals introduced their fourth pitcher when Kevin Siegrist relieved Maness. Ellsury was safe at first on an error by Carpenter but Siegrist managed to stem the run flow. St. Louis 0, Boston 6 - - 6th inning The Cardinals went down in order with Lackey striking out Adams. Siegrist struck out Ortiz then was relieved by Carlos Martinez, who got the final two outs. St. Louis 0, Boston 6 - - (Reporting by Julian Linden; Editing by Frank Pingue)