The Texas Rangers were one strike away from winning their first World Championship. Twice. They had a 7-5 lead with two outs in the bottom of the ninth and two strikes on David Freese. Freese tripled off the right field wall to tie the game at 7-7 and send Game Six of the 2011 World Series into extra innings. The Rangers' Josh Hamilton quieted the crowd at Busch Stadium with a two-run homer in the top of the tenth to put Texas ahead by two runs at 9-7. The Cardinals would not give up.
Lance Berkman's base hit with two strikes and two out in the 10th tied the game at 9-9. These Cardinals weren't going to go away. This team was 10 and 1/2 games out of the Wild Card race at the beginning of September. They caught the Braves and won the Wild Card on the last day of the regular season. They then beat the heavily favored Phillies in the Divisional Series and then dispatched division rival Milwaukee in the NLCS. The Texas Rangers have a lot of offensive firepower, and tonight looked like it might be the night they finally win a championship. But it was not to be.

David Freese, a St. Louis native, sent the hometown crowd into a frenzy when he blasted a walk-off homer into centerfield in the bottom of the 11th to give the Cardinals a 10-9 win and force a decisive Game Seven tomorrow night in St. Louis. The Cardinals are the first team in history to come back from a two-run deficit twice in a postseason game. Both teams depleted their benches and bullpens. Both used starting pitchers in relief roles. Tomorrow night looks to be more of the same. If you love baseball, you won't want to miss it. Just don't count out the Cardinals. Too many teams have made that mistake this season.

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