Between these two bastions of baseball lie 20 World Series championships across 269 MLB seasons. Neither reached the playoffs in 2023 or 2024, but there are reasons to ride the modest hype of both sides thus far. The St. Louis Cardinals (4-2 as of Friday) take a spring sojourn to Fenway Park to duel the Boston Red Sox (entering the series at 3-4).
How to watch St. Louis Cardinals at Boston Red Sox
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Boston had a tough early draw with consecutive road series at Texas, the rejuvenated 2023 champions, and then Baltimore, a 91-win playoff squad last season. The Sox beat the Rangers on Opening Day before dropping three straight by just five combined runs. They battled back to take two of three from the Orioles — fiery new lefty Garrett Crochet was dominant Wednesday through eight scoreless innings, and the lineup produced eight runs (22 total bases) on Thursday afternoon.
The good — ascendant second baseman Kristian Campbell looks very, very legit. He mashed two doubles on Wednesday and went yard on Thursday; his first career homer was quite a cool moment:
Elsewhere, the left side of the infield looks rejuvenated with newly-inked Alex Bregman and finally-healthy Trevor Story. Outfielder Wilyer Abreu comes into the series with a monstrous OPS of 1.566.
Less good — as of Friday, DH Rafael Devers is hitting .111 … and that’s after his best game of the season on Thursday. First baseman Triston Casas is also cold. Right-hander Tanner Houck has struggled in his two games on the bump, while fellow starters Walker Buehler and Sean Newcomb underwhelmed in their 2025 debuts. Both can avenge their losses this weekend, with Newcomb getting the national TV look on “Sunday Night Baseball.”
St. Louis had a quiet offseason but has won four of its first six games, including a sweep of the Minnesota Twins last weekend. It had five or more runs in all but one of those home outings. The Cards are getting phenomenal early returns from the catcher spot, with four home runs (three from Iván Herrera) and 11 total RBI. Third base luminary Nolan Arenado is enjoying a strong start, and outfielder Lars Nootbaar has 10 hits in his first 30 plate appearances.
The lineup is littered with speed — young outfielder Victor Scott II already has four steals, and fellow outfield prospect Jordan Walker is anything but shy on the base paths. Ace Sonny Gray has allowed seven earned runs in 11 innings, but righty Erick Fedde was efficient against the Twins. He begins the series against Buehler on Friday.
Fedde has a 16.20 ERA in two brief career appearances versus Boston; Buehler is 2-0 against St. Louis with 25 strikeouts across 31 innings in four starts, all with the NL’s Dodgers. Miles Mikolas, Sunday’s starter against Newcomb, is a two-time All-Star with the Cardinals but had a negative WAR in 32 starts last season.
Most home runs in both uniforms:
- Reggie Smith (149 BOS, 50 STL)
- J.D. Drew (96 STL, 80 BOS)
- Tyler O’Neill (78 STL, 31 BOS)
Most wins in both uniforms:
- Cy Young (192 BOS, 46 STL)
- Jon Lester (110 BOS, 4 STL)
- John Tudor (62 STL, 39 BOS)
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(Photo of Alex Bregman and Trevor Story: Greg Fiume / Getty Images)
