Cardinals- Rangers

Allen Craig's pinch-hit drive landed an inch or two in front of Nelson Cruz's outstretched glove for a go-ahead single off reliever Alexi Ogando in the sixth inning that carried Cardinals over Rangers 3-2 on Wednesday in a chilly World Series opener.

Jason Motte allowed consecutive singles to open the ninth inning, and sacrifice flies by Josh Hamilton and Michael Young lifted Rangers to a 2-1 victory over Cardinals on Thursday night.

Albert Pujols launched three impressive homers, drove in six runs and finished with five hits -- tying a Series record with each accomplishment -- as the St. Louis Cardinals romped past the Texas Rangers 16-7 on Saturday night for a 2-1 edge.

Derek Holland threw two-hit ball for 8 1/3 innings to power Rangers over Cardinals 4-0 on Sunday night and even things at 2-all.

In a Game 5 that took several odd twists at the end, Texas turned a grounder that got away and a telephone mix-up into its biggest victory ever. Mike Napoli delivered the latest clutch hit of his charmed season, lining a tiebreaking two-run double in the eighth inning that sent Rangers past Cardinals 4-2 on Monday night for a 3-2 edge.

David Freese saved Cardinals  with a two-strike, two-out, two-run triple off Rangers closer Neftali Feliz that tied it in the ninth.  In the 10th, after Josh Hamilton had homered to give Texas a two-run lead, Lance Berkman's two-strike, two-out single made it 9-all. And when David Freese completed a startling series of comebacks with a leadoff home run in the bottom of the 11th inning to beat Texas 10-9 on Thursday night, fans all over got ready to enjoy something they hadn't seen in a long time: Game 7 of the World Series. Game 6 is already being stamped among the greatest thrillers in baseball history.

The Cardinals won a remarkable World Series they weren't even supposed to reach, beating Rangers 6-2 in Game 7 on Friday night with another key hit by hometown star David Freese and six gutty innings from Chris Carpenter.