Cardinal’s Plane To Boston Delayed – MLB Roundup For Oct. 30th

UNDATED (AP) — The St. Louis Cardinals finally got off the ground as they flew to Boston yesterday for Game 6 of the World Series against the Red Sox.

St. Louis manager Mike Matheny (muh-THEE'-nee) says mechanical problems caused their flight to be delayed for what appeared to be about six hours. Game 6 starter Michael Wacha (WAH'-kah) said from the plane that he and his teammates were watching movies and were provided with dinner. Wacha described the attitude aboard the stranded plane as pretty good, saying nobody was in a bad mood.

The Cards' offense has been flying low, however. They have scored just three times in losing the last two games, allowing the Red Sox to take a 3-2 series lead. The Redbirds are batting .218 and averaging 2.6 runs in the World Series.

Conversely, nobody is hotter than Red Sox slugger David Ortiz, who will be the team's designated hitter the rest of the series after playing all three games in St. Louis at first base. Ortiz has gone 3-for-4 the last two games and is hitting .733 with two homers, six RBIs and five runs scored in 15 at-bats this series. He's reached base 15 times in 20 plate appearances, quite a turnaround from the 2-for-22 slump Ortiz endured during the ALCS against the Tigers.

John Lackey will start for the Red Sox tonight. Lackey was the losing pitcher in Game 2, surrendering three runs and five hits in 6 1/3 innings. But he followed that with one hitless inning of relief in Game 4, helping the Bosox win 4-2.

Lackey has experience in potential championship clinchers, having won Game 7 of the 2002 World Series as a rookie with the Angels.

Wacha has fared pretty well in the postseason. The rookie is 4-0 with a 1.00 ERA and just 11 hits allowed in 27 innings. He beat the Red Sox in Game 2 last Thursday, yielding only three hits in six innings.

UNDATED (AP) — Miguel Cabrera underwent muscle repair surgery Tuesday and the Detroit slugger is expected to be ready for spring training.

After the season, the Tigers revealed that Cabrera had been limited down the stretch by a tear in his groin. He still hit .348 with 44 home runs and 137 RBIs during the season. Cabrera batted .262 with two home runs in 11 postseason games before Detroit lost to Boston in the AL Championship Series.

Cabrera faces 6-8 weeks of rehabilitation.

In other baseball news:

— The Chicago White Sox have agreed to a six-year, $68 million deal with Cuban slugger Jose Abreu. The White Sox announced the move on Tuesday, about a week and a half after they reached an agreement. The 26-year-old Abreu will receive a signing bonus of $10 million and earn $7 million in 2014.

— Dave Wallace is the Baltimore Orioles' new pitching coach after spending the past four years as Atlanta's minor league pitching coordinator. He replaces Rick Adair, who left the Orioles in mid-August for personal reasons. Wallace was pitching coach when the Red Sox won the 2004 World Series, and he's also served in that capacity with the Dodgers, Mets and Astros.

UNDATED (AP) — There are a host of first-time Gold Glove winners this year.

Toronto pitcher R.A. Dickey has captured his first Gold Glove, as have Kansas City catcher Salvatore Perez, Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer and Baltimore third baseman Manny Machado. The first-timers on the National League side are Arizona first baseman Paul Goldschmidt, Atlanta shortstop Andrelton Simmons, Colorado third baseman Nolan Arenado and Milwaukee center fielder Carlos Gomez.

Left fielder Alex Gordon was the third Royal named to the American League Gold Glove squad. The Orioles also have three Gold Glove winners after center fielder Adam Jones and shortstop J.J. Hardy were so honored. They are joined by Boston second baseman Dustin Pedroia (peh-DROY'-ah) and Red Sox right fielder Shane Victorino.

St. Louis pitcher Adam Wainwright and Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina earned the hardware, as did Cincinnati second baseman Brandon Phillips, Rockies left fielder Carlos Gonzalez and Diamondbacks right fielder Gerardo Parra. It's the sixth straight Gold Glove for Molina.