Sox went on to sweep the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series, winning their first World Series championship in 86 years and ending the Curse of the Bambino. Route to the series Boston Red Sox The Red Sox ended their 2003 season in the previous American League Championship Series with a game seven loss to the Yankees, on a walk-off home run by Yankees third baseman Aaron Boone in the bottom of the 11th inning. During the offseason, they traded Casey Fossum, Brandon Lyon, Jorge de la Rosa, and a minor leaguer to the Arizona Diamondbacks for ace starting pitcher Curt Schilling. Manager Grady Little was also fired and replaced with Terry Francona due to poor decisions that Little made during the previous season's playoffs. The Red Sox also signed a closing pitcher, Keith Foulke, to a three-year contract. Going into the all-star break, the Red Sox were seven games behind the Yankees for the division lead with a record of 48–38, but led the wild card. In an attempt to improve the team and solidify a playoff decision and in anticipation for a showdown against the New York Yankees, general manager Theo Epstein traded well-liked shortstop Nomar Garciaparra to the Chicago Cubs in exchange for first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz and shortstop Orlando Cabrera in a four-team deal on the trading deadline (July 31). The team fell behind up to games in the division during the month of August, but managed to come back in September to within two games. However, the Yankees held strong and won the division, finishing three games ahead of the Red Sox. The Red Sox won the AL Wild Card (the best record among three second-place teams) to obtain a spot in the playoffs. Entering the postseason, first baseman Kevin Millar was asked to compare the team with the previous season's team, to which he responded, "I'm pretty sure we're five outs better than last year." It was a reference to the 2003 American League Championship Series, in which the Red Sox held a 5–2 lead over the Yankees with one out in the eighth inning of Game 7, only to blow the lead and lose the series. The Red Sox would sweep the Anaheim Angels in three games, but at a cost. In the first game of the series, Schilling would be hurt by a line drive hit off his foot, leaving the