World Series Final Playoff Rosters: St. Louis Cardinals Add Allen Craig As DH, Boston Red Sox Same Lineup For Postseason

The Boston Red Sox and St. Louis Cardinals are getting ready for the World Series at Fenway Park on Wednesday night and the final roster moves for both teams were slight, as the Sox decided to keep the same roster, while the Cards opted to add Allen Craig to the World Series roster after missing time since September with an injury.

According to ESPN.com, Craig was added to the World Series roster and Adron Chambers was taken off to make room for him and now he will get the chance to play for the first time since early September while dealing with a foot injury. Craig was one of the better hitters for the Cardinals during the season, driving in nearly 100 runs with a .315 average and he also had 13 home runs and .373 on base percentage and he likely will be playing DH in the first two games of the series if he starts.

Matt Adams was very solid for the Cardinals in his place, but not great, as he hits just under .270 with a home run in 111 games and now the Cards will have some depth back. Having Adams as a pinch hitter and bench players gives Mike Matheny more choices for the decisions to make and he is also one of the best quality hitters for the Red Sox, going for a .454 batting average with runners in scoring position, which was the best in baseball and something the Cardinals will need going forward.

Craig will get the chance to get back on first base when the series shifts to Busch Stadium for Game 3 and that gives him and advantage, as he can heal up even more until then. Matheny said that he will play DH for the first part of the series and while he could get injured again, general manager John Mozeliak felt that adding him to the roster was a positive move that could help the team in a number of ways.

The Red Sox opted to stick with their main roster from the American League Championship Series after that worked out very well for the team and now is appears that Xander Bogaerts will be the primary third baseman heading into the championship matchup. The two teams have played against each other four times in the World Series with the Red Sox winning the first one before losing the next two and then the Sox won the last matchup back in 2004.

According to ESPN.com, this is the first time in 10 years that the two teams in the World Series had the best records in their leagues and it hasn't happened since 1999 when the Yankees took on the Braves. The Red Sox have won their last eight games played in the World Series after sweeping both the Cardinals and the Rockies and now they will go for number nine with Jon Lester on the mound and he will pitch against Adam Wainwright before John Lackey and Michael Wacha take the mound for Game 2.