World Series Schedule 2011: Why Home-Field Advantage Won't Matter for Cardinals

There was a time when the St. Louis Cardinals didn't even look like a wild-card team.

Now, behind starting pitcher Chris Carpenter and a dangerous offense led by Albert Pujols, the Cardinals are a team to be feared in the World Series.

The Cardinals got to where they are now by winning 16 of their last 21 games in the regular season and taking out the favored Philadelphia Phillies and Milwaukee Brewers in the playoffs. They've scored the most runs in the postseason with 62 and are on a roll reminiscent of last year's San Francisco Giants. The Cardinals could very well win their second World Series in five years.

But they won't and the Texas Rangers will capture their first championship in franchise history.

While the Cardinals have scored the most runs in the postseason so far, the Rangers have scored the second most and have a better offense in all facets of the game than the Cardinals. They also have a red-hot Nelson Cruz and two solid pitchers in C.J. Wilson and Colby Lewis.

Yes, Wilson hasn't been his usual self this postseason, but there's a reason he won 16 games with a 2.94 ERA and 206 strikeouts during the regular season: he knows how to pitch. I expect Wilson to get back on track in the World Series and Game 1 on Wednesday is going to be a great matchup between him and Carpenter.

There's also the fact that the Rangers went 44-37 on the road this season. This isn't a team that crumbles when going into a hostile environment.

I think this is going to be a very close series, which is why I have the Rangers winning in seven games. In the end, I think the Rangers' offense will be the difference and will explode in a couple games during the series.

Game	Matchup	Pitchers	Date	Time	TV Station
1	Texas Rangers at St. Louis Cardinals	Chris Carpenter vs. C.J. Wilson	Wednesday, Oct. 19	8:05 p.m.	FOX
2	Texas Rangers at St. Louis Cardinals	Jaime Garcia vs. Colby Lewis	Thursday, Oct. 20	8.05 p.m.	FOX
3	St. Louis Cardinals at Texas Rangers	TBA	Saturday, Oct. 22	8:05 p.m.	FOX
4	St. Louis Cardinals at Texas Rangers	TBA	Sunday, Oct. 23	8:05 p.m.	FOX
5*	St. Louis Cardinals at Texas Rangers	TBA	Monday, Oct. 24	8:05 p.m.	FOX
6*	Texas Rangers at St. Louis Cardinals	TBA	Wednesday, Oct. 26	8:05 p.m.	FOX
7*	Texas Rangers at St. Louis Cardinals	TBA	Thursday, Oct. 27	8:05 p.m.	FOX

*If necessary

All times Eastern