Cardinals finish historic comeback with Series title

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The Cardinals squeaked into the playoffs the last day of the regular season, earning the wild-card berth primarily because the Atlanta Braves folded down the stretch. Once in, they proved they belonged, beating the Philadelphia Phillies in five division series games and the Milwaukee Brewers in six championship series games.

After falling behind three games to two in the World Series by losing Games 4 and 5 in Arlington, Texas, the Cardinals were on the brink of elimination. Twice in Game 6 they were down to their last strike, only to rally.

And Friday night in front of an adoring sellout crowd donned in red, the Cardinals celebrated the 11th Series championship in the storied history of the franchise. Talk about flying high.

[Related: David Freese wins World Series MVP, gets cool car]

Catcher Yadier Molina(notes) leaped into the arms of closer Jason Motte(notes). Albert Pujols(notes), playing perhaps his last game as a Cardinal because he will be a free agent, ran over from first base and joined what quickly became a joyous scrum.

“We believe in ourselves, from the bullpen to the starting pitchers to our offense,” Pujols said. “When everyone was thinking we were done, we bounced back. It was incredible. A lot of things are going through my head, and a few weeks from now I’ll sit down and say, wow, look how far we came.”

David Freese(notes), the local St. Louis kid who was the hero of Game 6 and doubled in the first two runs in Game 7, was selected Most Valuable Player. Freese batted .348 with five extra-base hits in the Series and set an MLB record with 21 RBIs in the postseason.

“To win it is an incredible feeling,” Freese said. “I’m just full of joy.”

[Video: The final out | Champagne celebration]

He wasn’t alone. Manager Tony La Russa has taken teams to the postseason 14 times and is one of only two managers to win the World Series in both leagues. This was still special – especially after he was heavily criticized for questionable moves during the losses in Texas.

“It’s truly a dream come true,” he said. “It’s hard to imagine it actually happened.”

The game didn’t live up to the forehead-slapping incredulity of the Cardinals’ 11-inning Game 6 win. Then again, how could it? Allen Craig(notes), one of several unlikely stars who emerged this postseason, supplied the winning run in the third inning with his third home run of the Series. The Cardinals tacked on two runs without a hit in the fifth and another in the seventh.


David Freese is the World Series MVP.
(Getty Images)
Meanwhile, the Rangers went quietly for a change, losing consecutive games for the first time since Aug. 25 and losing the Series for the second year in a row. They were the team of gritty catcher Mike Napoli(notes), wispy-mustached left-handed pitcher Derek Holland(notes) and sluggers Josh Hamilton(notes), Adrian Beltre(notes) and Nelson Cruz(notes).

But they couldn’t muster enough to beat the Cardinals in Games 6 or 7. A Series that began with both managers lauded for their quick hooks and liberal use of relievers ended with the Rangers’ Ron Washington watching his bullpen become a Halloween house of horror.

[World Series slideshow: Check out Game 7 photos]

Starter Matt Harrison(notes) staggered through four innings, giving up three runs. Washington took a deep breath and went to Scott Feldman(notes), who promptly put himself in trouble by walking Craig and hitting Pujols with one out. Lance Berkman(notes) advanced the runners with a ground out, so Feldman walked Freese intentionally. But he gave Molina a free pass on a full count to force in a run and was replaced by C.J. Wilson(notes).

Wilson, the Rangers’ ace who started Games 1 and 5, hit Rafael Furcal(notes) with his first pitch, extending the Cardinals’ lead to 5-2. After all their slugging, they’d scored three pivotal runs without the benefit of a hit.

“One thing in this World Series that I’ll look back on is it being so close, just having one pitch to be made and one out to be gotten, and it could have been a different story,” Washington said. “But, you know, when you’re a champion you keep fighting, and St. Louis fought, came back … and they deserve it.”

Meanwhile, Cardinals starter Chris Carpenter settled down after giving up two runs in the first inning and put up zeroes through the sixth. Starting on three days rest for only the second time in the postseason, he exited after David Murphy(notes) led off the seventh with a ground-rule double. The Cardinals’ bullpen, shaky for days, did the job, tossing three scoreless innings.

This was the 11th World Series Game 7 played by the Cardinals. They’ve won eight, the first in 1926 with Hall-of-Famer Rogers Hornsby serving as player-manager.