Last night’s game was the most important game of the series thus far. A win would allow you the privelege of being able to lose the next game and still be in the running for the World Series title. While a loss would mean having to face the near impossible task of winning two games in a row. The pressure was on.
The Cardinals and Rangers both had their Aces on the mound. Christopher John Carpenter for the Cardinals, and Christopher John Wilson for the Rangers. Notice similarities in their names? Interesting isn’t it. (From now on I’ll refer to them as Chris and C.J. I just wanted to point out their same names.) Anyway, they both have had success as well as failure in the past. It all came down to this game. They had to be on their game.
The first runs of the game were scored by the Cardinals in the top of the second inning. The first run coming from an RBI single by Yadier Molina, and the second coming off a ground out by Lance Berkman. The Cardinals had a quick 2-0 lead.
Moving onto the bottom of the third. An absolute BOMB by Mitch Moreland put the Rangers on the board. When I say BOMB, I mean BOMB. The home run soared into the upper deck of the outfield, traveling an estimated 446 feet. It was the longest home run in the World Series since records began being kept back in 2006.
The next Rangers run came in the bottom of the sixth inning. A home run by Adrian Beltre tied things up for the Rangers. The amazing thing about this home run, is that he hit it on one knee. Or at least ended his swing on one knee.
Let me change gears for a moment, as I want to talk a little bit about the Texas Legends race that took place during the middle of the sixth inning. The legends race is run by people who dress up as legends from Texas’s history. The race is done every Rangers game, but last night wasn’t a normal race. Last night’s race saw MLB Network analysts dressing up as the characters for the race. Kevin Millar as Davy Crockett, Harold Reynolds as Sam Houston, Sean Casey as Jim Bowie and Mitch Williams as Nolan Ryan. You had to figure that Keving Millar, who said that he was “going to win”, on yesterday’s episode of ’Intentional Talk’, was going to do whatever it took to increase his chances of winning. Even if it meant cheating. Whatever Millar did, he must of done it without standing out too much, as he won last night’s race by a good 15 feet. Harold Reynold’s, Sean Casey, and Mitch Williams, finishing in that order, felt that Millar did in fact cheat. Below is a video I found on Youtube. Watch it, and you tell me:
Did Millar cheat? Let me know what you think, by leaving a comment in the comments section below.
Getting back to the game, it appeared as if it would go into extra innings, with the score still tied, 2-2, going into the bottom of the eighth. But Mike Napoli couldn’t let that happen, as he drove in two runs on a line drive single to center. Napoli came through again for the Rangers, and the fans let him know it with the continuous chanting of, “NA-PO-LI. NA-PO-LI. NA-PO-LI……” It went on, and on, and on. It had to be a good feeling for Napoli, who’s now, in my opinion, a great candidite for MVP. He’s come through for the Rangers the entire series. He deserves it more than anyone else.
Neftali Feliz was brought in to close things out in the top of the ninth inning. He imediately plunked Allen Craig, sending him to first base with Albert Pujols coming to the plate. Then things got weird as signals became crossed. Allen Craig says that he saw the hit and run sign from the 
third base coach, while Albert Pujols says he put the sign on. Whoever it was, it didn’t work, as Albert Pujols failed to make contact, and Craig was easily thrown out by Napoli at second. A strike ‘em out, throw ‘em out double play. Just like that, there were two outs. Neftali Feliz made quick work of the next batter, Lance Berkman, striking him out to end the game.
The Rangers win the game 4-2. They now lead the series 3 games to 2. Unless the rally squirrel makes an appearance in St. Louis, I’d say the Cardinals chances of winning the World Series down 3-2, are slim to none. But stranger things have happened. That’s the great thing about baseball. You can be down, but you’re never out. There’s always that chance that the unbelievable can happen. You never know.
Remember my Q and A blog entry with the ‘Batting Stance Guy’? Well, he was up to his old tricks of imitating MLB players batting stances last night in the Rangers Clubhouse. Check out his hilarious imitation of Adrian Beltre’s one knee home run:
The guy’s great.
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