World Series: St. Louis 3 - 2 Texas (St. Louis leads 1-0)

Last year, the Rangers fought their way to the World Series, only to find once they got there that they couldn't score. After tonight, they must be nervous that the same thing will happen again.

This was actually a great game for purists. Both starting pitchers (C.J. Wilson for the Rangers and Chris Carpenter for the Cardinals) were quite good, and the game moved along at a nice brisk pace. Going into the bottom of the 6th, the score was tied at two. The whole thing came down to three pinch-hitters.

In the bottom of the 6th, David Freese -- who has been on fire throughout the playoffs, hit a one-out double for St. Louis, and moved to third on a wild pitch. But Wilson struck out Yadier Molina to give the Cardinals two outs, and then Wilson walked the number-8 hitter to bring up the pitcher's spot. The Cardinals responded by pinch-hitting for Carpenter with Allen Craig, a backup outfielder who batted .315 in 200 at-bats this year. The Rangers brought in Alexi Ogando, one of their ace relievers. Craig hit a slicing fly down the right field line that curved and curved and landed only about a few inches beyond the reach of Rangers' hero Nelson Cruz, whose spectacular diving effort came up just short. The Cardinals took a 3-2 lead.

In the top of the 7th, the Rangers had their chance to respond. Cruz singled and Rangers catcher Mike Napoli walked, putting men on first and second with one out. With lefty Marc Rzepczynski on the mound, the Rangers sent up righty Craig Gentry to pinch hit for left fielder David Murphy, who was batting eighth. Gentry struck out swinging. This brought up the pitcher's spot, which forced Texas to call on Esteban German, a backup infielder who only had 11 at-bats all year, and none since September 25th. Rzepczynski struck him out too, and the Rangers' best chance to tie the game was gone. The excellent Cardinal bullpen retired the Rangers in order in the 8th and the 9th, and the Cardinals had a 1-0 lead in the series.