World Series Schedule 2011: Cardinals Have Momentum on Their Side

The St. Louis Cardinals got to the postseason by winning 16 of their last 21 games.

Then they defeated the favored Philadelphia Phillies and Milwaukee Brewers to advance to the World Series.

Now, after a 3-2 victory over the Texas Rangers on Wednesday, the Cardinals are just three wins away from claiming their second World Series title in five years.

The Cardinals are a different team than last season's champion, the San Francisco Giants, but they're succeeding and surprising in much the same way the Giants did: They're simply playing better than anyone else in baseball at this point.

Are the Cardinals the most talented team overall in Major League Baseball? No. And, honestly, they didn't even look like a playoff team a little more than a month ago.

But the Cardinals are playing the best out of anyone right now and they're playing better as a team than the Rangers are.

The Cardinals dispatched of the Rangers on Wednesday with a combination of clutch hitting and spectacular pitching across the board, not to mention a raucous home crowd. This is a team that naturally plays better than regular season stats would suggest.

Why? There may be no explanation for it except for the fact that they're riding a wave and have yet to come back down to earth. This is the same wave the Giants rode on in 2010.

Now, it's not like the Cardinals have no talent. They have a legitimate ace in Chris Carpenter, the best hitter in baseball in Albert Pujols and a talented supporting cast.

But when you look at the Rangers and Cardinals, the Rangers have the most raw talent as a whole. The difference is the Cardinals are in sync and the Rangers were just a bit off in Game 1.

Can the Rangers come back and win the series? Of course they can.

But they're going to have to play brilliant baseball to slow the Cardinals down.

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