The Texas Rangers battled back after losing game 1 of the
Fall Classic by beating the St. Louis Cardinals in the last 3 of 4 games to
take a 3-2 lead in the series before traveling to St. Louis to end the series.
Trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the ninth inning in game 2 of
the Fall Classic, the Texas Rangers manage to string together back to back
singles followed by consecutive sacrifice flies to take a 2-1. Neftali Feliz
was successfully able to record the save in the bottom of the ninth by striking
out two batters and causing another to fly out and end the game. Due to the
late game heroics by the Rangers, they take a tied series at 1-1 back to Texas
for game 3.
Game three was unlike the first two games of the Fall
Classic, for the first time the bats came alive for both teams. After scoring a
combined run total of 8 runs in the first two games of the series, the
Cardinals score 16 behind Albert Pujols three home-run performance. The Rangers
bats also came alive by batting in 7 runs behind Adrian Beltran who went 4-5 at
the plate and scored two runs.
This not only helps Pujols make a great case for the World
Series MVP Award and establishes dominance in the Fall Classic but also
increases his value in the upcoming off-season when he becomes a free agent. Since
this is Pujols 10th season in the league, he will likely be in search of a long
contract which will inevitably be very expensive. This World Series, in
addition to the regular season and play-offs has shown that Pujols can still
play at an elite level in the MLB. Due to this dominance, the Rangers
intentionally walked Pujols 3 of 5 times in game 5.
Below are Pujols National League batting ranks for the 2011 season:
-3rd in HR (37)
-7th in SLG (.541)
-7th in RBI (99)
-3rd in R (105)
In game 4 the spotlight of the World Series returns to the
pitcher’s when Rangers’ pitcher, Derek Holland, pitches 8 1/3 innings allowing
only 2 hits in that span. He was then replaced by Neftali Feliz who completed
the save without allowing a hit. The Rangers were able to break a 1-0 lead open
when Mike Napoli hit a three-run home-run in the sixth inning to make the score
4-0 where it would remain for the rest of the game.
In game 5, the crowd of over 51,000 in Busch Stadium caused
Cardinals manager, Tony La Russa, to have a telephone mix-up with bullpen coach
in the 8th inning which resulted in Marc Rzepczynski pitching to
Mike Napoli. Napoli then hit a double that scored two runs against a pitcher
that La Russa claims that “never should have pitched against him.” This miscommunication caused the Cardinals to
surrender 2 runs which made the score 4-2 where it stayed for the remainder of
the game.
The Cardinals are now trailing for the first time this year
in the World Series as they head back to St. Louis to play game 6 and possibly
game 7. In game 6, Colby Lewis will be on the mound for the Rangers as he faces
Jaime Garcia who will be pitching for the Cardinals.
Game 6: 10-26 @ STL 8:05pm
Game 7: 10-28 @ STL 8:05pm
(If Needed)