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US Presswire photo Ron Washington and Tony La Russa go head-to-head again tonight. |
The question is: Which storyline will emerge? Will the Cardinals stave off elimination, live to see another day and force the first World Series Game 7 since 2002? Honestly, they have to like their situation, back home at Busch Stadium with Jaime Garcia on the mound and the DH out of the lineup.
On the other hand, the Rangers have an opportunity to seize this moment and capture the first championship in the history of a franchise that began play in 1961 as the expansion Washington Senators.
What will be the storyline at night's end? We're about to find out...
107th WORLD SERIES - GAME 6
TEXAS RANGERS at ST. LOUIS CARDINALS
Where: Busch Stadium
Gametime: 8:05 p.m.
TV: Fox
Radio: WTEM (980 AM), WWXT (92.7 FM), WWXX (94.3 FM), XM 89
Weather: Mostly cloudy, 51 degrees, Wind 4 mph in from CF
STARTING LINEUPS
RANGERS
2B Ian Kinsler
SS Elvis Andrus
LF Josh Hamilton
1B Michael Young
3B Adrian Beltre
RF Nelson Cruz
C Mike Napoli
CF Craig Gentry
P Colby Lewis
CARDINALS
SS Rafael Furcal
CF Skip Schumaker
1B Albert Pujols
RF Lance Berkman
LF Matt Holliday
3B David Freese
C Yadier Molina
2B Nick Punto
P Jaime Garcia
Would be great to see a Game 7! Hope that Garcia has another good game in him, and that he gets some run support if so. Maybe Berkman at cleanup will do the trick to get the Cards offense rolling again. Also hoping for no further bullpen mishaps, which could really get the rabble going (No, I said "rabble" not "Scrabble. Oh geez...)
ReplyDeleteA non WS note: Bryce Harper with a walkoff 3 run HR today.
ReplyDeleteA non WS note: Bryce Harper with a walkoff 3 run HR today.
ReplyDeleteHaving seen, heard, and pondered Davey Johnson's ideas about the Nationals. Do you honestly expect he will play someone like Coco Crisp
over Bryce Harper? C'mon Riggleman would have never put Werth in CF for more than a month ... not with Ankiel starting. And Riggleman would definitely put up some roadblocks to Harper's early advancement.
Johnson put Werth in CF for a reason and that reason was as he himself stated when he took over was to 'reconfigure the roster' and set things up so that the next manager did not have any holes in the lineup.
CF? Check! Werth
RF? Check! Harper when he's ready.
LF? Check! Morse
1B? Check! LaRoche (unless they get Pujols or Fielder)
2B/ Check! Espinosa
SS? Check! Desmond
3B? Check! Zimmerman
C? Check! Ramos.
Nice escape job for Garcia in the first - hope that the Cardinals can force a Game 7.
ReplyDeleteWell, I have come to the disappointing realization that I am rooting for the Cards. Disappointing because I dislike TLR quite a bit.
ReplyDeleteBut the Rangers just don't do it for me. Go Berkman.
I agree Anon 7:48... except I forsee Oppo Boppo as a Josh Hamilton centerfielder. Werth playing CF all year would be very hard on him. He's not a 20-yr old anymore.
ReplyDeleteDesi, ss
Werth, rf
Zim, 3b
Morse, lf
LaRoche, 1b
Espi, 2b
Harper, cf
Ramos, c
That's a lineup to be reckoned with!
Edit: that is a post-May 30th lineup. LaRoche gets traded before the deadline. Morse moves to 1b or Marrero moves to 1b off the bench.
Well executed play by the Cards. Not sure what Wash should do with his pitchers after that - just three swings trying to avoid the ball? At least it isn't a DP.
ReplyDeleteMaybe Berkman at cleanup will do the trick to get the Cards offense rolling again.
ReplyDeleteHey, 1a, clairvoyant much?
How about trying that for, say, LaRoche's season stats round about April 4?
OMG Cardinals don't want to play game 7.
ReplyDeleteThis is the weirdest game I have seen in a long time. Both defenses are trying to give the game away. Napoli killed his ankle and is still in the game. Hamilton just scored and limped back to the dugout - he can barely run. Holliday took out Andrus with a great old school takeout. It's just nutty.
ReplyDeleteHolliday very well might be responsible for this loss if Cards lose.
ReplyDeleteLots of responsibility to go around in this game. Mistakes were made.Lots of them.
ReplyDeleteIt's been a roller coaster night for sure. I'm on the Rangers bandwagon, about time they get their first World Series.
ReplyDeleteTalk about on cue; Adrian Beltre strikes again! Oops, now Cruzing towards the finish line.
ReplyDeleteLong way to go yet... especially the way this one's goin.
ReplyDeleteThis game is definitely not over yet. I am so tired, though - have to see it through. Things are getting interesting now.
ReplyDeleteHis name may be Furcal but it is now FECAL in St. Louis
ReplyDeleteTied it up. Extra innings. Unbelievable. It's midnight and I am going to pay for this tomorrow. I don't even really care which team wins - this is just baseball and I can't stop.
ReplyDeleteWow, Nelson Cruz has hit 8 home runs in the series, but Rangers fans may well only remember how poorly he played that ball.
ReplyDeleteHamilton goes yard after a long drought. Cardinals threatening yet again. You couldn't make this stuff up.
ReplyDeleteUnbelievable, one on, two out and Pujols on deck. Walk him? Yup. All up to Berkman now, pressure's on.
ReplyDeleteAnd Berkman ties it up - we go to the eleventh-most exciting world series in years.
ReplyDeleteI still say Berkman went, though
ReplyDeletemumblemumblemumble
Walkoff!
ReplyDeleteUnbelievable game. The announcers wrote off the Cards when it was 7-4 and we are STILL playing (it's 9-9 in the 11th). Wow.
ReplyDeleteCARDS WIN!!!!
I just don't remember a post season that was this good.
ReplyDeleteWow.
ReplyDeleteLove this game.
Of course it's Freese, the hometown kid who grew up rooting for the Cardinals, who tripled in the tying runs in the 9th and homers in the 11th.
Not once, but twice the Cardinals were down to their last strike, much less their last out. But in baseball, as long as you still have outs you have hope.
It's the best sport there is.
I don't even know what to say right now. All I can think of is: That, right there, is why baseball has always been and will always be the greatest game ever invited.
ReplyDeleteWe'll see you ... later tonight!
Maybe it's an every 10 years thing. 1991, the seven game "worst to first" series when Jack Morris pitched 10 shutout innings to win it ... 2001 when the Yankees and Diamondbacks staged a truly classic series (and I say that as a Yankee fan for nearly 40 years). And now the Cardinals just ... won't ... quit.
ReplyDeleteI hope Game Seven is worthy of this series :)
Ugly early, exciting late.
ReplyDeleteI had predicted the Rangers in five or six -- but I also said I hoped I would be proved wrong. And I was.
Go Cards!
A privilege to watch that game.
ReplyDeleteBlown away.
ReplyDeleteWhat an ugly, exciting, unbelievable game! I feel very fortunate to have stayed awake and saw this one. Go Cards!!!
ReplyDeleteStupid Cruz... way to jump way too early in the 9th. Concede the lead runner but keep the trail runner from scoring! Play the carom off the fence and live to fight another day. Who knows what might've happened. If. if. if. That's why we love baseball. :)
ReplyDeleteHoly socks, this is awesome.
ReplyDeleteNah, I was only half right, Steady Eddie.
ReplyDeleteThat's why I don't do predictions. A coin flip would have worked just as well. Offense on: check. Garcia a good game: Not this time. A clean game: not so much. A good game: heck, yeah! :-)
Watched the whole thing and was so wired afterwards that I couldn't fall asleep for some time, but I was trying to be quiet so as not to wake my hubby, who had thrown in the towel and retired after the third Cards error, so I didn't try to post here. (Write run-on sentences much? Um, yeah.)
That was such a great game, even if I did have to hit the mute button quite frequently in the late innings. Reminded me of the Tigers/Twins tiebreaker a ways back, where the lead kept going back and forth. Speaking of great games, I got the trivia question right about Game 6 winning dingers (just a lucky guess, I think). That would be three, wait, four. Guess I'll go have some breakfast now, and my first cup of coffee. Will probably need three or four cups today in order to stay awake for tonight's game, just like last night. Oh yeah, I think I heart Ryan Freese. :-)
Hey, 1a, clairvoyant much?
How about trying that for, say, LaRoche's season stats round about April 4?
October 27, 2011 8:40 PM
The morning after and I am wondering how last night will affect tonight - Hamilton, Cruz, Napoli, Holliday -- did last night beat them up so much that they will just not be able to play? What pitchers are not blown? Surely Holland is done. This won't be the prettiest finish but the trophy will go to the team that can survive it.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of being beaten up, I didn't watch the postgame show and was wondering about Cruz limping down into the tunnel late in the game. Evidently he has a groin strain. I think that Napoli may be bionic. Never expected to see him squatting behind the dish for the rest of the game after that ankle twist, which looked really bad when it happened.
ReplyDeleteOn a Cards note, LOL at this quote from Berkman:
"When you're a little kid out there, you don't have a bunch of reporters and fans that are ready to call you a choking dog if you don't come through. I'm just cautioning all the little kids out there. Be careful what you wish for."
Lance Berkman, continuing the Cardinals' culture of losing.
ReplyDelete