Yankees 3, Red Sox 1\nNEW YORK -- Pedro Martinez has a new "Daddy." His name is Jon Lieber.\nWhile the raucous crowd at Yankee Stadium taunted Martinez with booming chants of "Who's Your Daddy?" Lieber shut down the highest-scoring offense in the major leagues.\nA No. 5 starter pitching against a three-time Cy Young Award winner, Lieber took a shutout into the eighth inning. John Olerud backed him with a two-run homer in the sixth off the tiring Martinez, and the Yankees beat the Red Sox 3-1 Wednesday night for a 2-0 lead in their AL championship series rematch.\nAfter Orlando Cabrera singled leading off the third inning for Boston's first hit, Lieber retired 13 straight batters before David Ortiz singled in the seventh.\nLieber needed just 45 pitches to get through five innings -- Martinez threw 46 in just the first two innings. Lieber's biggest thorn was leadoff man Johnny Damon, who kept fouling balls off before lining to center in a 16-pitch at-bat with one out in the sixth.\nAfter Trot Nixon singled leading off the eighth, Tom Gordon came in and allowed Jason Varitek's double and Cabrera's RBI grounder.\nMariano Rivera entered with a runner on third and two outs in the eighth, just as he did Tuesday night when he jetted back from a family funeral in Panama to preserve New York's opening win.\nRivera shattered Damon's bat on a foul ball, threw a called third strike past him to escape trouble, then finished for his second straight save and 32nd in postseason play.\nAfter a day off, the series resumes Saturday at Fenway Park, with Kevin Brown pitching for the Yankees against Bronson Arroyo. Boston headed home unsure of the status of ace Curt Schilling, whose ailing right ankle might prevent him from starting Game 5 if it's needed.
Cardinals 10, Astros 7\nST. LOUIS - Make no mistake about it -- this is a sluggers' series.\nAlbert Pujols homered early, Larry Walker delivered three key hits and the St. Louis Cardinals withstood four Houston shots to outlast the Astros 10-7 Wednesday night in Game 1 of the NL championship series.\nSlumping Scott Rolen and Jim Edmonds also contributed, and winning pitcher Woody Williams even helped out with a big double for the league's top-hitting team.\nTogether, that was enough -- barely -- to withstand homers by Carlos Beltran, Lance Berkman, Jeff Kent and Mike Lamb.\nAnd it was a significant victory: The last 11 teams to win the opener of the NLCS have gone on to reach the World Series.\nNo one predicted that pitchers would rule in this series, and it was an accurate call.\nIn an October when the ball is flying, the Cardinals and Astros took turns whacking shots all over Busch Stadium, with Walker finishing a home run shy of becoming the first player in postseason history to hit for the cycle.\nNow, unheralded Pete Munro gets his chance to try to slow down the team that led the majors with 105 victories. A guy who started the season in the minors with Minnesota, Munro will start Game 2 for Houston against 15-game winner Matt Morris Thursday night.\nFor sure, Houston manager Phil Garner will find himself watching The Weather Channel overnight. The forecast is for showers, and the Astros would certainly welcome it. A rainout would allow them to bring back ace Roger Clemens in Game 2.
