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Rangers catcher Mike Napoli lined a shot to center field in the bottom of the eighth to give Texas a 4-2 victory in Game 5 of the 2011 World Series.
The 2011 World Series is headed back to St. Louis with the Cardinals on the brink of elimination after a pivotal 4-2 Game 5 loss to the Texas Rangers at the Ballpark in Arlington. The Rangers struck the decisive blow in the eighth inning when rising postseason star Mike Napoli blasted a two-run double to center field off Marc Rzepczynski. The line drive scored Nelson Cruz and Michael Young. That's all the scoring Texas would need.
Neftali Feliz came in to close out the victory for Texas in the top of the ninth and got the job done. After hitting Allen Craig with a pitch to start the inning, Feliz stuck out Albert Pujols and then Napoli threw out Craig as he was attempting to steal second. Feliz would walk Matt Holliday, but got Lance Berkman to strike out swinging. Napoli went deep into foul territory to record the final put-out, a fitting end to a typically exhilarating World Series game. It was Feliz's sixth save of the postseason.
The Cardinals left 12 men on base in Game 5. Game 6 is Wednesday at Busch Stadium.
For more on the 2011 World Series, Rangers fans should check out Lone Star Ball and Cardinals fans should join the conversation at Viva El Birdos.
Here at SB Nation, we're watching the World Series with our .gif camcorders set to CAPTURE. Thank goodness for that, because the fine people behind the scenes scored us a doozy when Mike Napoli lined a go-ahead double to score two and give the Rangers a 4-2 lead over the Cardinals in the eighth inning of Game 5 of the 2011 World Series.
Check out Tony La Russa's recation after the jump.
Adrian Beltre of the Texas Rangers dropped down to one knee and punished a Chris Carpenter offering for a two-out solo home run to tie Game 5 of the 2011 World Series at two in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Not that SB Nation ever advises putting stock into the things Tim McCarver says (our motto isn’t "sports for smart people", but at least it wouldn’t be inaccurate) but here’s what Fox’s color commentator had to say about the game tying homer: "Beltre only does that on breaking balls as he follows that pitch going down, down, down". Looks like somebody owned that self-titled blink-182 album from 2003.
Carpenter has allowed six hits and two earned runs through six innings, while striking out three and walking one. If not for that control, these solo shots by the Rangers could potentially be much more damaging.
For more World Series coverage, Rangers fans should visit Lone Star Ball and Cardinals fans should check out Viva El Birdos.
Matt Holliday of the St. Louis Cardinals had a chance to crack Game 5 wide open when he came to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs in the top of the fifth inning. Rangers pitcher C.J. Wilson was unfazed, though, and got Holliday to ground out to shortstop Elvis Andrus to end the inning and keep the Cardinals' lead at 2-1.
A scoreless fifth for St. Louis registers as an opportunity lost. Skip Schumaker got things started with a single to lead off the inning, and Nick Punto followed with a walk. When Albert Pujols came to the plate with two outs and first base open, Rangers manager Ron Washington wasn’t about to give the game’s most dynamic hitter a chance to beat him. The ensuing intentional walk to Pujols loaded the bases for Holliday.
The Rangers got on the board thanks to a solo homer from third baseman Mitch Moreland in the bottom of the third. Moreland had previously misplayed a ball in the second inning that resulted in a St. Louis run.
For more World Series coverage, Rangers fans should visit Lone Star Ball and Cardinals fans should check out Viva El Birdos.
The St. Louis Cardinals are off to a good start in Game 5 of the 2011 World Series. With a little help from the Texas defense, they're up 2-0 in the second inning.
St. Louis outfielder Matt Holliday walked to begin the top half of the inning, then advanced to second base on a pitch in the dirt that got away from Texas catcher Mike Napoli. After a Lance Berkman walk and a David Freese flyout, Yadier Molina singled to left field, scoring Holliday. Texas left fielder David Murphy caught an untimely case of the bobbles as he fielded the Molina hit, but probably wouldn't have had time to throw out Holliday regardless.
Skip Schumaker followed the Molina single with a routine ground ball to Texas first baseman Mitch Morland, but Morland was unable to field the ball cleanly, and there was no throw home as Lance Berkman scored the Cardinals' second run.
For more World Series coverage, Rangers fans should visit Lone Star Ball and Cardinals fans should check out Viva El Birdos.
I'm not saying that no baseball fans are into Camp Rock, or that baseball should aim directly at their most hardcore demographic, thirtysomething ex-hipsters, by getting Pavement back together for the national anthem once a week. But I was a little surprised to see baseball use its time on the national stage to bring in Demi Lovato, star of stage and Disney screen from such hits as Princess Protection Program and Sonny with a Chance, to sing the national anthem in Game 5.
She was perfectly okay, now that I've lowered my standards permanently—more than a little flat on the land of the free, but just up to the task of home of the brave—and she's apparently from Dallas—I did my research! Honest! But it stuns me every year when I see the stars to which Major League Baseball decides to hitch its wagon. In 2010 they decided on Train, because baseball fans love being asked whether that's Mr. Mister on the radio, stereo, cassette deck, minidisc player.
I can't claim complete impartiality on this, though—as far as kids'-TV stars go I prefer Miranda Cosgrove, because as a twentysomething ex-hipster I'm weirdly pleased that she collaborated with Rivers Cuomo.
The St. Louis Cardinals and Texas Rangers have released their respective lineups for tonight's pivotal game 5:
Cardinals
1. Rafael Furcal SS
2. Allen Craig RF
3. Albert Pujols 1B
4. Matt Holliday LF
5. Lance Berkman DH
6. David Freese 3B
7. Yadier Molina C
8. Skip Schumaker CF
9. Nick Punto 2B
Rangers
1. Ian Kinsler 2B
2. Elvis Andrus SS
3. Josh Hamilton CF
4. Michael Young DH
5. Adrian Beltre 3B
6. Nelson Cruz RF
7. David Murphy LF
8. Mike Napoli C
9. Mitch Moreland 1B
(Via.)
St. Louis manager Tony La Russa has decided to give a start to Skip Schumaker in place of the struggling Jon Jay, who has yet to manage a base hit in the series. Schumaker is a downgrade at the plate, but under these circumstances, La Russa probably figures a change is worth a shot. The Rangers' Ron Washington, on the other hand, is running out the same lineup he used in game 4.
Game 5 of the 2011 World Series nears, and with it the last of a three-game set at the Ballpark in Arlington that will end, as these things usually do, with one team on the brink of elimination. Since we don't know yet what the next several hours will hold, I thought I might offer the most reasonable scenarios for your Wednesday afternoon whether the St. Louis Cardinals win or lose. If you're around Busch Stadium that day, then, consider these two possibilities:
Cardinals Win: Everybody will be wearing a Chris Carpenter shersey! The Arch will be used as a powerful antenna so as to broadcast replays of Mike Shannon's most recent "Get up baby! Get up!" call so far and wide that the Cardinals become the official baseball team of the Pyongyang resistance! Fans will look back fondly on how they assumed Skip Schumaker was kind of fast and good at defense when he was just an outfielder!
Cardinals Lose: Everybody will be panicking! The Arch will be torn down like an ersatz goalpost! Fans will go from Founding Fathers to Old Testament and declare Jon Jay Judge of a roving band of looters and marauders! Tony La Russa will be said to have done some very frustrating things!
The good news, though, is that in a post-apocalyptic wasteland tickets are likely to be at least a little bit cheaper.
The St. Louis Cardinals probably weren't hoping this would be such an issue going into Game 5 of the World Series, but after Derek Holland's Game 4 near-shutout the series is tied, and Chris Carpenter is the Cardinals' last chance to return to Busch Stadium with a series lead. Which means it's time for a narrative that's been around since just after the Cardinals finished celebrating the NLCS: How healthy is Chris Carpenter?
Said to be suffering from elbow soreness bad enough that the Cardinals questioned his availability for that series' phantom Game 7, Carpenter insisted repeatedly it wasn't a problem and proceeded to throw six fine innings in the Cardinals' Game 1 victory. That's not enough for everybody—other websites are running Chris Carpenter Is Done stories at this very moment—but a closer look at the numbers suggest Carpenter's as healthy as he's been all year.
In Game 1 Carpenter got through those six innings on 87 pitches, and if his spot in the batting order hadn't come up with what turned out to be the game-winning run on base, he probably would have pitched the seventh. Nothing in his performance suggested it would be a problem, aside from a long Mike Napoli home run—which is nobody's idea of a surprise outside the Los Angeles Angels' front office. Carp's four strikeouts and one walk were classic peripherals, and his nine swinging strikes were just one fewer than he got in his Game 5 shutout against the Philadelphia Phillies.
Carpenter might not be strong enough to push the Cardinals past C.J. Wilson twice in one week, but if he fails to get them on the right side of Wednesday's World Series elimination game it won't have anything to do with his gimpy tricep.
Oct 24, 2011- For the first time since 2003, the World Series is all tied up after the first four games. The Texas Rangers were able to rebound from a Game 3 loss thanks to a dominant pitching performance from Derek Holland. The lefty pitched 8 1/3 innings of shutout baseball to help lead the Rangers to a 4-0 win over the visiting St. Louis Cardinals. Game 5 will see the Cardinals send Chris Carpenter to the mound, while the Rangers will start C.J. Wilson. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 PM CDT on Fox.
After seeing Edwin Jackson walk seven batters in just 5 1/3 innings, St. Louis skipper Tony La Russa will look to Carpenter to deliver another steady postseason performance. Although he wasn't at his best in Game 1, Carpenter pitched six innings and allowed two runs to help the Cardinals open the 2011 World Series with a victory.
For extra coverage throughout the 2011 World Series, stay tuned to Lone Star Ball and Viva El Birdos.
World Series 2011 Game 5: Tony La Russa Answers For Questionable Decisions, Sort Of
In a critical Game 5 World Series loss to the Texas Rangers, the St. Louis Cardinals and Manager Tony La Russa are under fire for the team going 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position. The biggest questions surround La Russa's decisions to involve Allen Craig, the man hitting in front of slugger Albert Pujols in the lineup. In the third inning, Craig was asked to sacrifice bunt Rafael Furcal to third base, leading to an intentional walk for Pujols. In the seventh inning, Craig was thrown out at second base attempting to steal with one out and Albert Pujols at the plate. La Russa defended the seventh-inning decision, saying:
La Russa called the play a "mix up," but insisted that "[o]n our team, nobody gets thrown under the bus, so it was just a mix up." But that wasn't all for mix ups in the loss. A bullpen mixup may have cost the Cardinals the game, as La Russa and Bullpen Coach Derek Lilliquist failed to communicate on who should be warming up to face Rangers slugger Mike Napoli. With two runners in scoring position and two outs in the bottom of the eight inning, Manager Tony La Russa expected closer Jason Motte to be warm and ready for a showdown with Napoli, but instead discovered he had to stick with Marc Rzepczynski. The matchup was unfavorable, and Napoli hit a game-winning double as a result, but La Russa still felt it could have worked, saying this after the game:
a Russa didn't quite know how to explain the gaffe after the game, saying "that phone in a loud ballpark, it's not an unusual problem."
For more coverage on Game 5 and a preview of Game 6, make sure to check out Viva El Birdos and SB Nation St. Louis
Oct 25 8:49a by Steve von Horn