World Series Showdown: Texas Draw Cards

Two franchises from completely different backgrounds, one rich in tradition and winning while the other still looking to find their place among baseball history. Two teams that took far different roads to get back here, one taking an improbable up the wild card standings, the other winning their second straight division title, convincingly.

The St. Louis Cardinals and Texas Rangers are set to square off in the 2011 Fall Classic in a series that should be one for the ages.

Texas Rangers at St. Louis Cardinals:
After feeling the bitter pain of losing in their first World Series appearance a year ago to the San Francisco Giants, the Rangers have come back with vengeance and find themselves in their second straight Fall Classic. With thirteen returning players from last year's World Series roster, Texas is determined to not let this one slip away.

Wilson has struggled this postseason, going
0-2 with a 8.04 ERA in his three starts

The Ranger's offense has been stagnant for most of the postseason, but came to life in the series-clinching Game 6 against the Detroit Tigers in the ALCS. They scored 15 runs on 17 hits that included a nine-run third inning. Nelson Cruz has six playoff home runs for the second straight postseason and was honored as the ALCS MVP. He along with Josh Hamilton, who has yet to hit a home run this postseason mainly due to his recent groin injury, will need to be the two that protect the middle of the order.

Many questioned manager Ron Washington's decision to keep Michael Young in the cleanup spot, but he silenced the critics after Young's big Game 6, tallying 5 RBIs. Offseason acquisitions Adrian Beltre and Mike Napoli are both playing in their first World Series and will need to swing the bat like they have all season if Texas is overcome a unbelievably hot St. Louis team.

Texas' starting rotation hasn't fared well in this postseason and could be tested mightily by the best offense in the National League this season. It's the bullpen that holds the key to success in this series for Washington and Co. In their 42 and 2/3 innings this postseason they have accumulated a 2.34 ERA.

The Rangers have added starters Alexi Ogando and Scott Feldman, who won 17 games for Texas in 2009, to their 'pen to go along with 2010 Rookie of the Year, Neftali Feliz.

General manager Jon Daniels also traded for relievers Mike Gonzalez, Koji Uehara and Mike Adams during this season, giving Washington the ability to mix and match late in the game, something Cardinals manager Tony La Russa is famous for doing and could loom large with four potential games in the NL style of play.

In a baseball city that rivals all others, St. Louis will be roaring for Game 1 of the World Series. The Cardinals offense was not only among the best in the NL, but throughout the majors. They were in the top ten in runs (762), batting average (.273), on-base percentage (.341) and slugging percentage (.425), but have taken their game to new heights in the postseason.

Third baseman David Frees, who is fresh on his NLCS MVP honors, is leading the team with a .425 average, 4 home runs and 14 RBIs. Free-agent-to be, Albert Pujols, is second in all three categories, but it will be the bats of Matt Holliday and Lance Berkman that need to come alive. Berkman and Holliday are two of six Cardinals that have at least one home run this postseason, but will need to provide more pop to contend with the high octane offense in Texas.

Schumaker adds a toughness and different
dimension to La Russa's lineup.

While Holliday has batted .375 in his ten games this postseason, Berkman has struggled to find his stride, batting .237 in his 38 at-bats.

Skip Schumaker missed the entire NLCS due to an oblique tweak, but batted .600 in the NLDS, including driving in the only run of the decisive Game 5 against the Phillies. He has been added to the World Series roster and could prove to be a huge addition to this Cardinal team.

Much like Texas, St. Louis has seen their rotation scuffle, becoming the first team in postseason history to have win a playoff series without having a starter go past five innings.

Jake Westbrook has been added to the roster in favor of reliever-turned-starter-turned-reliever Kyle McClellan to help mend a struggling starting staff. On the other hand, the 'pen for La Russa has been unbelievable, posting a 2.55 ERA in their 42 and 2/3 innings of work and it could be better if it weren't for some rough outings in the Cardinals' 11-6 loss in Game 1 of the NLDS to Philadelphia.

Berkman and Texas' Game 1 starter C.J. Wilson were involved in some preseason controversy and now find themselves fighting for the right to call themselves the best in baseball. Who would have thought? This series could be a battle of the bullpens and with some inclement weather in the forecast this should make for an intriguing World Series.

TEX X-Factor: C.J. Wilson

STL X-Factor: Skip Schumaker

St. Louis in Seven.

Here We Go Again

Cruz enjoyed a record-setting ALCS, that saw
him hit six home runs.

It's hard to believe at one point the Detroit Tigers held a 2-0 lead against the Texas Rangers Saturday in Game 6 of the ALCS. After Detroit shut out the Rangers high octane offense for the first two innings, Texas bombarded the Tigers' pitching staff for 15 runs on 17 hits, closing out the ALCS, 15-5.

In a 38 minute bottom of the third inning, the Ranger sent 14 hitters to the plate, recording six hits in a nine-run outburst, setting the franchise record for most runs scored in a single postseason half inning.

Two of those six hits came off the suddenly red-hot bat of All-Star Michael Young. Young hit two, two-run doubles in the inning, driving in four of the nine runs scored. The 12-year veteran added a solo home run in the seventh, giving him a 5 RBI game and totaling 7 for the series.

His teammate, Nelson Cruz, who was honored as this year's ALCS MVP, got out his boomstick once again and continued this unbelievable postseason run. Cruz popped a two-run shot for his sixth home run of the series, driving in his 12th and 13th runs of the series, both are single series postseason records.

With his six home runs, Cruz is now the only player in postseason history to have hit six home runs in two different postseasons. In his first postseason appearance a year ago, the Monte Cristi native also hit six home runs, but that came throughout the playoffs, not one series. If that weren't enough, Cruz hit the first walk-off grand slam in postseason history and had two extra innings home runs in the ALCS, the first time that has ever been done as well.

All eight of hits during the LCS went for extra-bases, that's a lot of production for a guy that bats seventh in the lineup. But it wasn't just Cruz's bat that did the talking.

In the eighth inning of Game 4, Cruz fired a perfect game-saving dart to nail the not so fleet of foot, Miguel Cabrera, at the plate, keeping the game tied.

While Cruz continues to exemplify an October legend, the Rangers are headed to their second straight World Series. After losing to the San Francisco Giants in last year's Fall Classic in five games, they have come back with vengeance and fire in their eyes. After capturing both their two straight division title and American League Pennant, Texas is the first AL West team to accomplish that feat since the Oakland Athletics did so from 1988-'90. They did in three years in-a-row.

Those Oakland teams were led by future Hall of Fame manager Tony La Russa, and with his Cardinals one win away from their eighteenth trip to the World Series, Texas could oddly enough face the last manager to do what they have achieved in 2011.

Texas accomplished all this without the power of last year's ALCS MVP, Josh Hamiltion, who didn't hit a home run in this series and has yet to hit one this postseason after hitting four in last year's LCS against the New York Yankees.

Showered in Ginger Ale for the second straight year, the Rangers hope to have one last celebration in them.

Cycling Back To Arlington

Young, right, celebrates after his second home
run of the game that completed a team inning
cycle.

Just when it looked like the Detroit Tigers' season was on the brink of ending with their ace on the mound, a 99 mph fastball saved their season.

Justin Verlander pumped his fist after inducing a groundball double-play off the broken bat of Texas Rangers second baseman Ian Kinsler, escaping a one out base loaded jam in the sixth.

With the game still tied at two and inspired by Verlander's work in the top of the inning, Detroit's potent offense roared to life in the home half, that is with a little bit of luck.

Utility man Ryan Raburn, who has been filling in for the injured Magglio Ordonez, greeted Texas Rangers starter C.J. Wilson with a hard led off single to left followed by what would have normally been a routine 5-4-3 double-play, but for the first time in the series, the Tigers got the ball to bounce their way. Miguel Cabrera's ground ball hit the third base bag, shooting up and out of the reach of the Rangers' Adrian Beltre and down the left field line.

Cabrera cruised into second with an RBI double, seizing the lead back for the Tigers, 3-2.

Victor Martinez, much like he has all season for Detroit, delivered again with a triple into the right corner, scoring Cabrera. Following Martinez, Delmon Young answered the bell, blasting his second home run of the game and fifth of the postseason.

The Tigers had hit of the cycle in the inning, making that the first time it had been done in postseason history. If that weren't impressive enough, Detroit did it with with four consecutive hitters while hitting for the cycle the "natural" way.

Wilson escaped the inning alive, but the damage had already been done.

On the other side, Verlander trotted back out for his seventh inning of work, having a shut down inning, producing his first perfect 1-2-3 inning since the second and emphatically yelling, "It's about f-ing time".

Raburn added an insurance run in the bottom of the inning with a home run off Koji Uehara, increasing the lead to 7-2. Boy did they never need it. Nelson Cruz continued his unbelievable ALCS, hitting his fifth home run of the series and his second home run off Verlander in the series. This time a two-run shot, cutting into the Tigers' lead, 7-4.

Cruz is only the fifth player in major league history to have five homes in a postseason series, and the first to do so in a LCS. Surprisingly, Cruz had never hit five home runs over a a five game game span in his career, until now.

Manager Jim Leyland called upon left-hander Phil Coke to finish the game with the unavailability of set-up man Joaquin Benoit and closer Jose Valverde. Leyland made it clear prior to Game 5 that both Benoit and Valverde were not made available to pitch after extended work the last couple of games. The 66-year-old manager said he'd hope to get through the game using just Verlander and Coke and that's exactly what he did.

Despite the game becoming dicey with two outs in the ninth, Coke got the game's final five outs, sending the series back to Arlington for a Game 6 Saturday.

Bur the Rangers find themselves in a familiar spot. Last season Texas held a 3-1 series lead against the then-defending World Series champion New York Yankees. New York also won Game 5, only to have the Rangers close out the series at home in Game 6.

Verlander hasn't been sharp this postseason,
 but fought his way through Game 5.

Only 10 teams in major league history have overcome a 3-1 series deficit to win a best-of-seven series, most recently the Boston Red Sox, who did it in the 2004 and 2007 ALCS against the New York Yankees and Cleveland Indians respectively.

With their backs against the wall, Detroit will need to defy the odds once again like they have all season long.

Cruz-ing Into Detroit

Cruz's power bodes well in the Texas lineup
and ballpark.

There have already been so many of firsts this baseball season and Monday's Game 2 of the ALCS proved to be no different.

Texas Rangers outfielder Nelson Cruz continued to find his stroke this postseason after struggling mightily in Texas' first-round matchup against the Tampa Bay Rays.

Cruz, who homered in Game 1 against the Detroit Tigers, hit a pair of home runs, both coming in most crucial moments of the game.

With the Rangers trailing 3-2 after six and a half innings, Tigers manager Jim Leyland elected to have his starting pitcher, Max Scherzer, to return for the bottom of the seventh and pitch to Cruz. With left-hander Phil Coke warming in the Detroit bullpen and lefties David Murphy and Mitch Moreland to follow, it looked as if that would be the only batter Scherzer would face, no matter the result.

If all went according to plan, Leyland could have Coke finish the seventh and then summon set-up man Joaquin Benoit and closer Jose Valverde from the 'pen, for the eighth and ninth, to seal the win. It didn't.

On Scherzer's 91st pitch of the night, Cruz hammered a 1-2 fastball up in the zone and deposited it into the left field seats for a game-tying home run.

But it would be Cruz's second home of the night that would make postseason history.

After three scoreless innings from both the Detroit and Texas bullpen, innings that included both closers walking a tightrope and escaping ninth inning bases-loaded jams, Game 2 headed to the eleventh, setting the stage for a postseason first.

Texas set-up man Mike Adams struck out the first two batters of the inning, but surrendered a two-out single to the versatile only to have 2011 AL batting champion, Miguel Cabrera, fly out to center field to end the inning.

The Rangers quickly jumped on Tigers reliever Ryan Perry with three consecutive singles to start the home half of the inning, loading the bases with nobody out for the second time in the game. The first time Detroit was fortunate enough to allude any damage, this time would be much different.

Cruz, who had been dropped all the way to seventh in the order due to his recent struggles, came to the plate with a chance to be a hero. Someone who relishes in the moment, the 31-year-old slugger blasted his second home run of the game for a walk-off grand slam, giving the Rangers a 7-3 win and a 2-0 LCS series lead.

There have been 42 walk-off home runs in postseason history, but Cruz's walk-off grand slam was the first of it's variety, adding another accomplishment to his impressive postseason resume.

Technically it should have been the second in postseason history after newly hired Chicago White Sox manager Robin Ventura hit a walk-off home run with the bases-loaded in Game 5 of the 1999 NLCS as a member of the New York Mets to beat the Atlanta Braves, but was mobbed by teammates before he could reach home plate turning a grand slam into what we know today as a "grand slam single".

In last years postseason, Cruz hit .317 with 6 home runs, 11 RBIs and 13 extra-base hits. That is why his struggles in the ALDS, where he batted .067, came as such a shock.

An All-Star in 2009, Cruz is rapidly turning into one of the best big game performers in the majors, but injuries have halted him from becoming one of the games brightest young stars. The Monte Cristi native has taken five trips to the disabled list over the last two seasons, mainly due to hamstring issues. He has averaged only 120 games over the last three seasons with the Rangers, playing only 108 in 2010.

Texas will need to find a way to keep him healthy and his bat hot if they are repeat as American League Champions and return to the World Series.