St. Louis Cardinals, Texas Rangers set to decide World Series champion in Game 7

Story from Here and Now. Listen to the above audio for a complete report.

The St. Louis Cardinals were down to their last strike Thursday night not just once, but twice.

And, in the end, after mounting three come-backs, a towering blast to straight-away centerfield, off the bat of hometown kid David Freese, led the Cardinals to a 10-9 victory over the Texas Rangers in what will go down as one of the best World Series’ games ever.

“Both of these teams appeared to be evenly matched before the series began, so I think it’s very fitting they’ll play a seventh game and you had the sixth game go the way it did,” said St. Louis radio host Tom Casey.

The two teams will meet again tonight at 8 p.m. eastern, 7 p.m. central time to determine who will be world champions. It’s the first time the World Series has gone to Game 7 since 2002.

Freese, the man responsible for Thursday night’s win, also earned MVP honors in the National League Championship Series, grew up in suburban west St. Louis, a life-long Cardinals fan. Practically overnight, he’s become a massive local celebrity.

“He’s been a very good player for this team and his star has been on the rise,” Casey said, “but it has absolutely arrived in this World Series.”

If the Rangers win tonight, it will be their first World Series title ever. For the Cardinals, a victory would bring the 11th title, the most in the National League.

“If the Rangers don’t get this done tonight, and walk away having lost World Series in back-to-back seasons, I think it’s going to be very, very hard for them to recover,” Casey said.

But he also pointed out that it’s been more than two months since the Rangers lost two games in a row.