St. Louis Ends Improbable Run as World Series Champions

The St. Louis Cardinals were not expected to make the playoffs. 10 and 1/2 games out of contention for the Wild Card at the end of August, they scrapped and clawed their way into the postseason on the very last day of the regular season. Then they had to play the heavily favored Phillies in the Divisional Series and they found a way to knock them off. They upset the Brewers in the NLCS, and were the underdogs going into the World Series against the slugging Texas Rangers. Down 3 games to 2, the Cardinals won an epic Game Six in extra innings after coming from 2 runs behind twice. Game 7, the Rangers scored twice in the opening innning.
The Cardinals knew what to do with a 2-run deficit. The hero of Game Six, David Freese lined a two-run double in the bottom of the first to tie the game. Starting pitcher Chris Carpenter shut down the powerful Ranger lineup through six and the bullpen kept them off the board the rest of the way. Allen Craig hit a solo homer in the third inning to put the Cards up 3-2. St. Louis would tack on 3 more later and the game and the 2011 World Series would end with the Cardinals winning 6-2. The World Series victory is the 11th in franchise history for the Cardinals.
David Freese was named World Series Most Valuable Player. The St. Louis native did most of his damage in Game Six by tying the game with a two-run triple in the bottom of the ninth and winning it with a long homer in the 11th. He drove in the tying runs in the first inning tonight with a two-run double.

The Texas Rangers have now lost two World Series in a row.