Cards Win On 11th-Inning Freese Clout, Force Game 7
David Freese of the St. Louis Cardinals celebrates at home plate after hitting a walk-off solo home run in the 11th inning to win Game Six of the MLB World Series against the Texas Rangers in St Louis.
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David Freese of the St. Louis Cardinals celebrates at home plate after hitting a walk-off solo home run in the 11th inning to win Game Six of the MLB World Series against the Texas Rangers in St Louis.
Doug Pensinger/Getty ImagesThere's a new name in the long list of World Series heroes.
David Freese.
If anyone asks this morning about last night's dramatic Game 6 between the St. Louis Cardinals and Texas Rangers, here's the first thing to tell them:
The Cardinals' Freese sent the game into extra innings with a triple in the 9th inning, when Texas was just one strike away from its first World Series championship. And then, in one of those classic moments that little kids dream about, he won the game for St. Louis in the 11th with a leadoff home run. The Cards beat the Rangers 10-9.
As ESPN.com says, that home run soared "to its rightful spot alongside the most famous World Series walk-offs ever hit — alongside Mazeroski, alongside Fisk, alongside Carter, alongside Gibson."
On Morning Edition, NPR's Tom Goldman said the Cardinals were "a baseball Rasputin — they wouldn't die" as they came from behind to win. And as he pointed out, there were other heroes for St. Louis — most notably, right fielder Lance Berkman. In the 10th, the Cardinals were again down by two runs. And they were again up against the wall — there were two outs and Berkman was down to his last strike. And guess what? He also got a clutch hit that scored two runs and kept the game going.
Now, the two teams come together for the deciding Game 7 tonight in St. Louis. Game time is 8:05 p.m. ET. Fox is the TV broadcaster.
Trivia note: This will be the first time since the 2002 Series (won by the Anaheim Angels) that the Fall Classic's gone the full seven games.