Cardinals force game 7 vs Rangers in World Series
DOWN THE WIRE. The St. Louis Cardinals celebrate after David Freese hits a walk off solo home run in the 11th inning to win Game Six of the MLB World Series against the Texas Rangers at Busch Stadium on Oct. 27, 2011 in St Louis, Missouri. The Cardinals won 10-9 to force a seventh and final game. AFP
ST. LOUIS – David Freese hit the game-winning home run in extra innings as the St. Louis Cardinals edged the Texas Rangers 10-9 to force a game seven in the 107th World Series.
Freese’s walk-off homer to centre field in the bottom of the 11th inning capped a wild see-saw battle that levelled the World Series at three games each.
The Cardinals will try to win their 11th World Series championship in franchise history and first since 2006 at home on Friday at Busch Stadium.
Freese’s dramatic blast off Rangers reliever Mark Lowe in front of a crowd of 47,325 sets up the first World Series game seven in nine years.
Earlier in the game Freese hit a two-out, two-run triple to right field that tied the game 7-7, sending it into extra innings.
Matt Harrison will pitch for the Rangers in game seven and Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said he had not ruled out using his ace Chris Carpenter on short rest in a game seven if he has to.
It was a heartbreaking loss for Texas who had the Cardinals on the ropes for much of the contest. The Rangers were just one strike away from winning the championship in both the ninth and 10th innings but the Cardinals refused to give up.
They appeared to be heading to their first World Series title in franchise history when Josh Hamilton blasted a two-run homer to right field in the top of the 10th inning to give the Rangers a 9-7 lead.
But the Cardinals chipped away at the Texas lead, scoring two runs in the 10th to tie it and setting the stage for Freese to launch the 15th walk off home run in World Series history.
The Rangers franchise is in its 51st year but Texas will have to wait one more day to try and end Major League Baseball’s third-longest World Series drought. Only the Chicago Cubs and Cleveland Indians have gone longer without winning a title.
St. Louis looked like a different team at home in game six after struggling to score runs in two losses in Dallas. Game six was originally scheduled to be played Wednesday but rain pushed it back to Thursday giving both teams extra time to get ready and heal nagging injuries.
Adrian Beltre and Nelson Cruz blasted back to back homers in the top of the seventh to give the Rangers a 6-4 lead Thursday.
Ian Kinsler also drove in a run with a single in the top of the seventh as Texas took their biggest lead of the contest 7-4 and appeared to be in control late in the game.
But the Cardinal fought back by scoring one run in the eighth on an Allen Craig home run to cut the Texas lead to two.
Freese tied it at 7-7 with his two-run triple against Rangers ace closer Neftali Feliz who had converted all six of his save opportunities in the post-season heading into game six.
Texas is attempting to win the World Series for the second straight year after losing in the finals last year in five games to the San Francisco Giants.
