Rangers rally to even World Series at 1-1

ST. LOUIS – Josh Hamilton and Michael Young hit consecutive sacrifice flies and the Texas bullpen was sharp again as the Rangers rallied to beat St. Louis 2-1 to even the World Series at 1-1.

Hamilton and Young hit back-to-back sacrifice flies in the top of the ninth inning on Thursday to score the tying and go-ahead runs for the Rangers, who rebounded from a game one loss to the Cardinals the night before.

The Rangers haven’t lost consecutive games since late August, but they didn’t get their bats going until late in game two.

The contest started as a pitching duel between Cardinals starting pitcher Jaime Garcia and Rangers starter Colby Lewis before St. Louis pinch hitter Allen Craig delivered the go-ahead run for the second night in a row by slicing another Alexi Ogando pitch to right field in the bottom of the seventh.

Craig is making the most of his limited opportunities in the World Series as he once again faced Rangers reliever Ogando with the game tied in the later innings and came up with the RBI single.

The Rangers are in their second consecutive World Series after being strangers to October success for the club’s first 49 years. The Rangers lost last year’s World Series in five games to San Francisco.

The last team to win the World Series one year after losing it was Oakland (1988-89).