Cardinals reliever John Axford took over Game 1 of the World Series Wednesday in the sixth inning and promptly struck out the bottom third of the order in a perfect inning of work in his team's 8-1 loss to the Red Sox.
Axford took an interesting trip to the World Series, beginning the season by blowing a save in the Brewers' first game and proceeding to surrender nine runs in 3 1/3 innings during his first four appearances. He was dealt to the Cardinals in late August and managed to close the regular season with 7 2/3 scoreless innings.
After four appearances earlier in the postseason, Axford was the first man out of the bullpen in Game 1 and turned in his first 1-2-3 inning with three strikeouts in either the regular season or postseason.