World Series breakdown, position by position

A position-by-position look at the St. Louis Cardinals and Boston Red Sox going into the World Series, starting Saturday night at Fenway Park. By Ronald Blum, The Associated Press:

FIRST BASE

Cardinals: Albert Pujols. Voted MVP of the NLCS, hitting 14-for-28 with four homers and a team-high nine RBIs, and is hitting .442 in postseason with six homers and 14 RBIs.

Red Sox: Kevin Millar/David Ortiz. Millar, Boston's quote machine, usually provides extra pop (18 homers, 74 RBIs) in already powerful lineup but hit just .250 in ALCS with two RBIs.

Edge: Cardinals

SECOND BASE

Cardinals: Tony Womack. Resurrected career after a spring training trade from the Red Sox that netted Boston only a minor league pitcher, and has sparked the top of the lineup.

Red Sox: Mark Bellhorn. A switch-hitter with some power, struck out a franchise-record 177 times but walked 88 times. Was 1-for-11 with five walks in first-round sweep of Anaheim and 5-for-26 with five RBIs against the Yankees — including the three-run homer that proved decisive in Game 6.

Edge: Cardinals

SHORTSTOP

Cardinals: Edgar Renteria. Had slight drop-off offensively, batting .287 after a .330, 100-RBI year last season and was 2-for-24 (.167) in the NLCS. Good range, strong arm.

Red Sox: Orlando Cabrera. Former Gold Glove winner has helped solidify defense after replacing fan favorite Nomar Garciaparra. He batted .379 in the ALCS with five RBIs.

Edge: Cardinals

THIRD BASE

Cardinals: Scott Rolen. Likely would have been NL MVP at All-Star break, and cleanup hitter was key to team taking control of Central. He was 0-for-12 against Los Angeles in the first round, then batted .310 (9-for-29) with three homers and six RBIs in NLCS. Defensively, has no peer.

Red Sox: Bill Mueller. Last year's AL batting champ was slowed by knee injury this season but went 4-for-12 in division series and had the tying single off Mariano Rivera in Game 4 of the ALCS.