BOSTON — Before the game Saturday, manager Oliver Marmol detailed how the Cardinals outfielders had spent time already getting to know the random ricochets and confounding caroms that are all part of the character at Fenway Park.
Coaches and outfielders had thrown baseballs off the hand-operated scoreboard and off the top half of the Green Monster to see the difference. They had visited the triangle in center field where triples go to thrive. They had put in a cram session to play the foreign ballpark with its funky dimensions as well as they could, as close to the locals as possible.
And then the Cardinals never gave the Red Sox a chance to show that proficiency.
Off the wall?
The Cardinals went over it.
With a thunderous response to Friday’s one-run loss, the Cardinals socked three home runs, two to dead center and one over the Monster, and romped in a 11-2 victory against Boston. Nolan Arenado started the power show with a homer in the first inning. Nolan Gorman and Tyler O’Neill followed with homers that traveled 440 feet and 410 feet, respectively, to the seats askew in center. As the Cardinals added on later, they were still going over the wall. Andrew Knizner one-hopped the low barrier in right for an RBI ground-rule double.
The 11 runs were the most scored by the Cardinals in a regular-season game at Fenway. They hit three homers in a game at Fenway for the first time since doing it twice in June 2008.
