Prior to Game 3, Martina McBride performed the national anthem, providing a pleasant version without taking excessive liberties with the material. Rain soaked the field during the afternoon but let up enough to allow the game to continue as scheduled, though water remained standing in several places on the playing surface. During the contest, precipitation did not begin to fall with significant force until the bottom of the ninth.

RHP Jeff Suppan retired CF-L Johnny Damon and SS-R Orlando Cabrera without too much trouble. However, LF-R Manny Ramirez lofted a solo shot into the left field stands. 1B-L David Ortiz followed with a groundball single into right field, but C-S Jason Varitek grounded in to a fielder's choice to end the inning.

In the bottom of the first, RF-L Larry Walker swung at the first pitch thrown to him by RHP Pedro Martinez before taking four consecutive balls. A diving 3B-S Bill Mueller prevented the groundball 1B-R Albert Pujols hit down the third base line from continuing into left field, but the ball rolled away from him, and by the time he retrieved it, Walker had advanced to second and Pujols was safe at first. Martinez then walked 3B-R Scott Rolen to load the bases, but CF-L Jim Edmonds hit a catchable fly into left, and Ramirez successfully threw Walker out at the plate as he tried to score after tagging up. The double play ended the inning.

Suppan and Martinez both were perfect in the second. However, while Martinez led off the top of the third with a four-pitch strikeout in which he swung at nothing, Suppan led off the bottom of the inning with a soft groundball hit to third for a single. SS-R Edgar Renteria then hit a flyball deep into right field. RF-L Trot Nixon went back to make the catch but slipped in the standing water at the edge of the warning track, falling hard on his backside in a manner that looked especially painful for someone with a history of lower back problems. Before the ball could be relayed to the infield, Suppan was at third while Renteria was safe at second. Up next, Walker hit a groundball to 2B-S Mark Bellhorn, which should have allowed Suppan to score as Bellhorn threw to first to get the sure out. Instead, Suppan, whose lead had already taken him halfway home, froze on the basepaths, started back to third, began to move towards home again, and then ran back to third as Ortiz threw to the bag. Ortiz's throw reached third before Suppan. Mueller tagged out Suppan, and rather than having a man on second with one out and the game tied at one, St. Louis remained down by one with two outs gone. Martinez subsequently retired Pujols, preserving Boston's 1-0 lead as the game moved into the fourth.

Two outs into the top of the fourth, Mueller dropped a line drive into left center for a double. Nixon followed, hitting a flyball into deep right for a single that drove in Mueller to increase the Red Sox's lead to 2-0. Suppan then plunked Bellhorn on the right elbow, giving Boston runners at first and second, but Martinez struck out to end the inning.

Damon led off the top of the fifth with a double off of a flyball hit into deep right. Cabrera hit a line drive into right for a single that moved Damon to third, and Damon scored when Ramirez hit a groundball into left for a single that advanced Cabrera to second. After Suppan retired Ortiz, Varitek hit a grounder to Pujols. Pujols threw to second to retire Ramirez, but Varitek made it to first safely before the Cardinals could turn two. The play also advanced Cabrera to third. Mueller then hit a groundball into right field for a single that allowed Cabrera to score, increasing Boston's lead to 4-0. At that point, St. Louis lifted Suppan and put in RHP Al Reyes to retire Nixon.

Martinez worked new reliever RHP Kiko Calero for a walk in the top of the sixth, but Damon hit into a double play to end the inning before the Red Sox could further cushion their lead.

Cabrera led off the top of the seventh with a flyball hit deep into left center for a double. Calero then walked Ramirez, prompting the Cardinals to bring in LHP Ray King to face Ortiz. Pujols came in to field a soft groundball from Ortiz and looked for a moment like he was going to tag King, who was running over to cover the bag. However, he instead beat Ortiz to first to get the force out while Cabrera and Ramirez each advanced a base. King issued a four-pitch, semi-intentional walk to Varitek to load the bases, but Mueller grounded into a double play to get St. Louis out of the jam.

Throughout the playoffs, when not giving weather or injury reports, FOX roving reporter Chris Myers has interviewed a mix of attending celebrities and token representatives of various crowd subsets. The majority of the interviews have been annoying distractions from the contest on the field but remained within the normal bounds of broadcast fluff. During Game 3, FOX crossed a line and Myers should have resigned rather than take part in the disgraceful incident.

In the top of the eighth inning rather than focusing on Bellhorn's at-bat, FOX cut to Myers and Budweiser spokesman "Leon" standing in front of a bunch of girls in red t-shirts sporting the "Slam-a-lam-a Ding Dong" slogan established in the Budweiser commercials in which Joe Buck adopts a home run call contrived to exploit the marketing potential of such a catch phrase. Myers and Leon proceeded to stage a scene in which Myers attempted to obtain an interview from Leon, whose character has been established as an athlete focused entirely on money and his own image. For the most part his ads are usually mildly amusing, but they belong between innings not during the game. We can handle signage and shout-outs to the sponsors of various graphics and segments. I've even previously held my tongue about the games opening with Joe Buck advising "baseball fans" to "grab an ice cold Budweiser" because "it's game time", a direction that seems to indicate that either the late game times actually do mean that MLB has completely given up on young fans or baseball is actively endorsing underage drinking. However, I draw the line at cutting away from an at-bat to run a live commercial.

Following Bellhorn's at-bat, the Red Sox pinch-hit for Martinez, who had not allowed a baserunner since giving up the double to Renteria in the third. Pitching seven scoreless innings, Martinez allowed three hits and two walks while striking out six. King finished off a perfect inning by retiring Martinez's pinch-hitter, right-handed hitter Kevin Millar.

Relieving Martinez, RHP Mike Timlin went one-two-three through the Cardinals' order in the bottom of the eighth. RHP Julian Tavarez then pitched a perfect inning for St. Louis. Not wanting to present the Cardinals with any opening for a comeback in the bottom of the ninth, Boston sent closer RHP Keith Foulke to the mound. Foulke struck out Renteria, but Walker lined a solo shot over the wall in left center to give St. Louis their first run of the game. To the relief of Red Sox fans, the home run failed to start a rally. Foulke retired Pujols and then struck out Rolen to end the game. Following this 4-1 win, Boston is now up 3-0 in the series with a good chance of sweeping today.