St. Louis Cardinals

There hasn't been a party like this in New England for nearly a century. Turmoil to triumph. Worst to first. MVP David Ortiz and the Boston Red Sox, baseball's bearded wonders, capped their remarkable turnaround by beating the St. Louis Cardinals 6-1 in Game 6 on Wednesday night to win their third World Series championship in 10 seasons.

Jon Lester pitched the Boston Red Sox within a whisker of yet another World Series championship. Now, this bearded band goes back to Fenway Park just one win away. Lester bested Adam Wainwright once again, journeyman David Ross hit a tiebreaking double in the seventh inning and the Red Sox downed the St. Louis Cardinals 3-1 on Monday night to take a 3-2 Series edge.

One night after a rare obstruction call, Jonny Gomes hit a decisive homer when he wasn't even in the original lineup and Koji Uehara picked off a rookie at first base for the final out. An entertaining, even goofy World Series is tied at two games apiece following Boston's 4-2 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday night, which ensured the title will be decided back at Fenway Park.

In perhaps the wildest finish imaginable, a rare obstruction ruling against Boston third baseman Will Middlebrooks allowed Allen Craig to score with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning and lift St. Louis over the Red Sox 5-4 Saturday night for a 2-1 edge in the World Series.

Michael Wacha won again in October and the St. Louis Cardinals got just enough help from Boston, beating the Red Sox 4-2 Thursday night to tie the World Series at a game apiece.

Given a bit of help by the umpires and a lot more by the Cardinals, the Boston Red Sox turned this World Series opener into a laugher. Mike Napoli hit a three-run double right after the umps reversed a blown call, Jon Lester made an early lead stand up and the Red Sox romped past sloppy St. Louis 8-1 Wednesday night for their ninth straight Series win.

Down the stretch we come in the 2013 MLB Season.  With many division races still yet to be decided as well as the addition of the 2nd wild card per league, this years chase for October should be as compelling as ever.  Take a look at my most recent power rankings and see how you think they stack up...

Personally, I always wait until July to really start assessing the standings and power rankings for Major League Baseball.

St. Louis Cardinals closer Jason Motte had season-ending Tommy John surgery Tuesday.

Mike Pelfrey struck out four, walked one and gave up one run and five hits in five innings of work in the Minnesota Twins 4-3 loss to St. Louis on Monday.