ninth, the Yankees staged a rally and brought former Red Sox player Tony Clark to the plate as the potential winning run. Keith Foulke, pitching for the third day in a row, struck out Clark to end the game and force the deciding Game 7. In this game, the Red Sox completed their historic comeback owing to the strength of Derek Lowe's one-hit, one-run pitching and Johnny Damon's two home runs (including a grand slam in the second inning). The New York Yankees were defeated 10–3. Ortiz, who had the game-winning RBIs in Games 4 and 5, was named ALCS Most Valuable Player. The Red Sox joined the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs and 1975 New York Islanders as the only professional sports teams in history to win a best-of-seven games series after being down three games to none, as would the 2010 Philadelphia Flyers and 2014 Los Angeles Kings. 2004 World Series: Death of the Curse of the Bambino The Red Sox faced the St. Louis Cardinals in the 2004 World Series. The Cardinals had posted the best record in MLB in 2004, and had previously defeated the Red Sox in the and 1967 World Series. The Sox began the series when Ortiz hit a 3-run homer to start the night. However Boston made many errors which allowed St. Louis to tie the game 9-all. But in the 8th inning the Red Sox won 11–9, marked by Mark Bellhorn's game-winning home run off Pesky's Pole. It was the highest scoring World Series opening game ever (breaking the previous record set in 1932). The Red Sox would go on to win Game 2 in Boston thanks to another great performance by the bloody-socked Curt Schilling. Boston scored all six runs with two-out RBI hits by Varitek, Orlando Cabrera and Varitek. In Game 3, Manny Ramirez got Boston started with a 1st-inning solo home run. Pedro Martínez (in his first World Series performance) shut out the Cardinals for seven innings and led Boston to a 4–1 victory. In Game 4, Damon led off the game with a home run and the Red Sox did not allow a single run, and the game ended as Édgar Rentería hit the ball back to closer Keith Foulke. After Foulke lobbed the ball to first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz, the Sox had won their first World Championship in 86 years. Boston held the Cardinals' offense to only