2011 World Series Game 1: Cardinals Hold on to 1 Run Lead to Beat Rangers

ST. LOUIS—Game 1 of the 2011 World Series between the Texas Rangers and the St. Louis Cardinals took place on cold and windy Wednesday night in St. Louis.

Although it took a while for both teams’ chilled bats to warm up, the Cardinals got their bats going in the bottom of the fourth with the heart of their lineup.

Lance Berkman put the first runs on the board, driving an outside pitch down the right field line to score Albert Pujols and Matt Holiday, who doubled to get on base.

The Rangers fired back in the top of the fifth with a two-run homer from Mike Napoli. He capitalized on an outside pitch that Chris Carpenter left up in the zone, sailing one into the right field bleachers.

Game 1 may not have been the anticipated slug-fest people were expecting, but it was an exciting back-and-forth battle, leaving fans on the edge of their seats.

Starting pitchers C.J. Wilson (5.2 IP 3 ER 4K) and Chris Carpenter (6 IP 2 ER 4K) had almost identical performances, both striking out four batters and showing flares of dominance.

Wilson got off to a shaky start, bouncing balls in the dirt and walking the first batter he faced. He was able to shake of the World Series jitters and shut down the Cardinals in the first three innings.

The Cardinals put another run on the board when Wilson was replaced by reliever Alexei Ogando. Ogando gave up an RBI-single to pinch-hitter Allen Craig, giving the Cardinals with a 3-2 lead.

The Rangers threatened to even the score once again when Cardinal reliever Fernando Salas got into a jam in the top of the seventh. However, reliever Marc Rzepczynski came to the rescue, striking out two Rangers to end the threat.

Excluding Salas’s initial troubles, the Cardinals’ bullpen performed very well, shutting down the Rangers in a collective three innings of work. Jason Motte closed the game with a save, securing the win for Carpenter.

With a tight Game 1, the stage has been set for an exciting World Series. Game 2 takes place on Thursday in St. Louis at 8:05 p.m. ET.