ST. LOUIS — With at least one game remaining, Red Sox hitters have already set a dubious record: Most postseason strikeouts.
Not that they care after a 3-1 win put them within a victory of winning the World Series as it heads back to Boston.
The Red Sox struck out 14 times in Game 5 of the World Series on Monday, giving them 150 for the postseason and shattering the record of 142 set by the San Francisco Giants in 2010.
They certainly got off to a swing-and-miss start Monday. Seven of the first nine hitters struck out — three looking, four swinging.
Overall, Adam Wainwright struck out 10, reliever Carlos Martinez one and Trevor Rosenthal struck out the side in the ninth.
Red Sox catcher David Ross credited the Cardinals’ pitchers.
“We’re facing the best pitching — we’ve faced the best pitching that baseball has to offer right now,” Ross said. “They’re game planning, they’re switching things up. It’s tough. Hitting is tough, period.”
That’s little consolation for the Cardinals, who had their own trouble making contact. St. Louis hitters struck out nine times — seven times against starter Jon Lester and twice against closer Koji Uehara.
