It was undoubtedly a long flight back to Boston for the St. Louis Cardinals. Even worse, the squad might even be turning right back around within 24 hours.

The Boston Red Sox escaped Busch Stadium with consecutive victories and a 3-2 series lead heading into the sixth game of the series in the comfortable confines of Fenway Park.

The Red Sox knew the turning point leading up to this was the victory in Game 4 when David Ortiz and co. had lost two straight games and were facing a possible 3-1 series deficit. Before the blink of an eye, the Sox won games 4 and 5 and suddenly Boston is right at home for a potential clincher.

Red Sox manager John Farrell is as thankful as anyone that his team took care of business before going back home.

"The fact is we're going home," Farrell said. "Going back to a place that our guys love to play in, in front of our fans."

"This atmosphere here, these three games, has been phenomenal. We know it's going to be equal to that, if not better. And we're excited about going home in the position we are."

On the other side, the Cardinals know just how big of a wall they have to climb in order to get a World Series title. Having to win two games - on the road in the playoffs, nonetheless -- in order to get to the top means that the chances are slim, but possible.

"It will be legendary if we go into Boston and win two games," star pitcher Adam Wainwright said.

The only way the Cardinals know they can win is by focusing on the game itself rather than the outside factors such as expectations or newspaper headlines.

"The guys know what we have to do," Cards manager Mike Matheny said. "We have to play the game. They have to lock arms, trust each other and play the game the right way. Most of it is going to be the mentality of not buying into any kind of stats, any kind of predictions, any kind of odds, and go out and play the game."

All the Cards have to do is win one game and suddenly it will be a one-game free-for-all on Thursday. But like Matheny said, it's one game at a time.