BOSTON — Area resident Jake Peavy will start pivotal game 3 of the World Series for Boston on Saturday night, as the Red Sox and Cardinals fight for the advantage in a series deadlocked 1-1.

Boston manager John Farrell confirmed before Game 2 on Thursday that Peavy would start Game 3 of the World Series instead of Clay Buchholz, who has weakness in his right shoulder.

Family friend Mike Bruner, who has known Peavy for 8 to 10 years, said he spoke with Peavy on the phone Friday morning and wished him good luck.

“It will mean the world to him,” Bruner said. “I spoke with him this morning and of course he has got some nerves going on, but this is the biggest game he has ever pitched in. That is why Boston traded for him, for this reason.”

Bruner and Floyd Plummer were in Chicago to watch Peavy pitch just days before the White Sox traded him to Boston on July 31. Now, they are making plans to watch their friend take the mound on one of sports’ grandest stages.

Bruner said Peavy will definitely be prepared.

“He is big on studying film and studying each hitter two to three days prior to when he pitches,” Bruner said. “He has a really hard work ethic and that is with everything he does.”

Bruner and Plummer said when they talk to Peavy, the conversation is rarely on baseball. When baseball season is over and Peavy returns home, both friends say he acts like a normal guy and that you’d never know he’s one of baseball’s premiere pitchers.

However, Plummer said he’s the biggest competitor he’s ever met.

“On a scale of 1 to 10, he is probably about a 15,” Plummer said when asked how competitive Peavy is. “There is probably not a bigger competitor out there.”

In 23 starts this season, Peavy went 12-5 with a 4.17 ERA. Peavy won the pitching triple crown in 2007 — including the NL Cy Young — and is a four time all-star, but he is still chasing his first World Series ring.

With the series swapping to a National League ballpark, Peavy will be required to bat as well. In his career at the plate, he has a .173 batting average, two homeruns and 27 RBI’s.

Saturday’s Game 3 is scheduled to start at 7 p.m.