Rosenthal falters in 9th, Cards lose

ST. LOUIS -- Xander Bogaerts drove in both runs, including a go-ahead sacrifice fly in the ninth inning, as the Boston Red Sox beat the St. Louis Cardinals 2-1 on Wednesday night.

The matchup of Shelby Miller and Joe Kelly, former teammates who were each other's best man at their weddings, was a high-quality draw that brought out their best. Each allowed a run in seven innings.

Junichi Tazawa (2-3) worked a perfect eighth and Koji Uehara worked around two hits in the ninth for his 23rd save in 25 chances. Boston won for just the third time in 14 games and snapped St. Louis' three-game win streak.

Trevor Rosenthal (1-6) blew his fifth save in 40 chances.

Kelly worked seven innings only twice in 22 starts for St. Louis the last two seasons and Miller got that deep for just the eighth time in 54 career starts.

St. Louis Cardinals' Matt Adams follows through on and RBI double against the Boston Red Sox in the first inning in a baseball game, Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2014, at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Bill Boyce)

Kelly got a nice ovation while walking to the bullpen to begin warmups, with hundreds of fans standing. There were more cheers when he stepped onto the mound for the first time, and before his first at-bat leading off the third.

The crowd cast yet another vote against the trade that brought starter John Lackey but came as a shock in the clubhouse. They cheered Kelly's infield hit after the Red Sox successful challenged an out call by first base umpire Gary Cederstrom.

The Red Sox loaded the bases with none out in the ninth against Rosenthal -- a single by Yoenis Cespedes, double by Mike Napoli and intentional walk to pinch hitter David Ortiz. Bogaerts then lined out to center for a sacrifice fly to give Boston the lead.

The first pitch was delayed 1 hour, 3 minutes by rain.

Trainer's room

St. Louis Cardinals' starting pitcher Shelby Miller (40) throws against the Boston Red Sox in the first inning in a baseball game, Wednesday, August 6, 2014, at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Bill Boyce)

Red Sox: General manager Ben Cherington is optimistic Allen Craig, recently obtained from the Cardinals, will be back this season from a left foot strain, but Craig is set to visit Dr. James Andrews for a second opinion.

Cherington added there's been no talk about shutting things down for the year.

"We're not at that point by any means," Cherington said. "He feels good. I mean, he doesn't feel like he's that far away from playing."

The 30-year-old Craig had a similar injury last year with the Cardinals. He missed the final month of the season and most of the postseason.

Cherington said the Red Sox had no concerns about Craig's medical history when they made the deal last week to get him from St. Louis. He said there are no long-term concerns, either, but said the team is taking a conservative approach with a new player.

Early damage

The Cardinals mustered three hits against Kelly but two of them were in the first. Matt Carpenter led off the first with a double and scored on a two-out hit by Matt Adams for the lead.

The Red Sox tied it at 1 in the fourth on a pair of two-out hits, Daniel Nava's single and a double by Bogaerts off the wall in center that Jon Jay just missed. Miller retired his last 10 in order.

Nice glove

Jay tracked down Napoli's drive at the wall to end the sixth and keep it tied and Cespedes tracked down Johnny Peralta's liner at the track in left in the sixth, both on balls that probably would have been homers with more humidity. Bogaerts robbed Carpenter of an RBI in the second with a diving stop at short and toss to second for an inning-ending force play.

On deck

Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright (13-6, 2.26) opposes Brandon Workman (1-4, 4.08) in the series finale. In the World Series, Wainwright was 0-2 with a 4.50 ERA, and Workman did not allow an earned run in 3 1/3 innings of relief.