Varitek gets Red Sox off to another fast start

BOSTON-- Jason Varitek found the deepest part of Fenway Park with his first-inning line drive, and the Red Sox were off to another fast start.

The thick-legged catcher drove in two runs with a rare triple to stake Boston to another early lead and help the Red Sox beat the St. Louis Cardinals 6-2 Sunday night for a 2-0 lead in the World Series.

It was the second time in as many games the Red Sox pounced on a St. Louis starter in the first inning. In Game 1, they scored four in the first and led 7-2 after three innings before the Cardinals rallied to tie it.

St. Louis starters Woody Williams and Matt Morris have allowed 11 earned runs in 6 2-3 innings so far, an ERA of 8.15.

On Sunday, Morris pitched around Boston sluggers Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz, walking them both with two outs in the first. Can't blame him for that: Ortiz was the MVP of the AL championship series and hit a first-inning homer off Williams in Game 1; Ramirez, who might win the regular-season MVP, had three hits on Saturday.

"We want to have a reason for them to pitch to him," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said before the game when asked about putting Varitek fifth in the order, behind Ortiz. "And if they don't pitch to him we want to have our best option there."

But Varitek, who didn't start Game 1 so Doug Mirabelli could catch knuckleballer Tim Wakefield, made the Cardinals pay for the decision. He hit a 1-2 pitch off the bullpen fence to the right of the 420-foot sign in Fenway's quirky triangle and kept running, pumping his fist when he popped up at third.

"I was just trying to have a quality at-bat, make sure I wasn't overanxious," Varitek said.

It was the ninth triple of Varitek's career, and the first for the Red Sox in the postseason since Jim Rice hit one in Game 5 against the New York Mets in 1986. It was the first World Series triple for a catcher since the Yankees' Joe Girardi hit one in Game 6 of 1996.

The Red Sox made it 4-1 in the fourth when Kevin Millar was hit by a pitch and -- again with two outs -- Bill Mueller and Mark Bellhorn hit consecutive doubles. Morris got Johnny Damon on a groundout to end the inning but he left after getting one out in the fifth.