Cards, Red Sox to cross paths in exhibition game

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- All was quiet at the Red Sox spring training stadium on Tuesday -- no fans in line for tickets and no anticipation of the game just 24 hours away.

"We play the Cardinals tomorrow? I didn't know," center fielder Johnny Damon said. "It's just a spring training game."

The first game between the teams since Boston completed its sweep of St. Louis in the World Series certainly must feel different to today's starting pitcher.

"Nah," Tim Wakefield said without breaking stride as he walked into the Boston clubhouse.

The scene outside City of Palms Park was much different than it was the day before the New York Yankees came to town for a game on March 7. Three young men drove 32 hours from Bangor, Maine, and stayed in line 35 hours to be the first to get tickets.

It may have been an exhibition game but, "It's still the Yankees," one of the men, Brad Kearns, said then.

But New York only made it to the AL championship series where it lost the last four games to the Red Sox after taking a 3-0 lead.

"It's the rivalry" with the Yankees that excites fans, Boston reliever Alan Embree said. "It's the AL East. There's more media in that little area in the Northeast than there is in much of the rest of the country."

Players say they don't get more fired up for one spring training opponent than another, whether it's the Yankees, Cardinals or a less successful team.

At least Curt Schilling knew St. Louis was the next opponent.

"Yeah, I read the paper today," he said. "The only reason we recognize the Yankees is because the crowds are a little different."

Facing St. Louis again does bring back warm memories of how the Red Sox won the championship for the first time in 86 years.

They tied for the AL lead with a .282 batting average, and the Cardinals led the NL at .278. But the series was one-sided starting with Damon's leadoff double in the bottom of the first inning of the opener.

"I thought my at-bat typified how locked in our team was," he said. "We weren't the crispest team on defense but we didn't let anything bother us."

Pitching was the difference.

For St. Louis, Scott Rolen went 0-for-15, Reggie Sanders 0-for-9 and Jim Edmonds 1-for-15. The team hit .190 while Boston batted .283 and outscored the Cardinals 24-12.

Matt Clement faced St. Louis five times last season when he was with the Chicago Cubs, going 3-2 with a 2.83 ERA.

"It's a tough lineup and I faced them before they got Larry Walker, which made them even tougher," said Clement, who signed with the Red Sox in the offseason. "To me, it was going to come down to who pitched the best because both teams had imposing lineups. With the Yankees, those are probably the three best lineups in baseball last year."

Wednesday's lineups will be weaker. The Cardinals won't bring all their players, and the Red Sox usually remove many starters midway through the game.

So it won't mean much even if St. Louis breaks its losing streak against Boston.

"That was last year," said Red Sox closer Keith Foulke, who finished all four World Series games and fielded the title-clinching groundout from current teammate Edgar Renteria. "To me, all teams are the same. I don't put more emphasis on the Yankees or the Cardinals or any team."