ST. LOUIS — Sometimes crossed fingers, Rally Squirrels and impossible dreams are enough.
The Cardinals challenged plausibility and won again, just as they have for the last three months when it looked like they no longer had a bat to perch on.
Down to their last strike twice Thursday night, St. Louis rallied from a pair of two-run deficits, finally claiming a 10-9 victory with David Freese’s walkoff home run in the 11th inning of the World Series before the largest crowd ever at Busch Stadium.
Game 7, anyone?
“I am all out of breath. I just got beat up by 30 guys,” Freese told reporters on the field. “It wasn’t always pretty, but we did it.”
Freese had Prestone running in his veins, the hometown kid who once quit baseball and now may never pay for a meal in this city again. His two-run triple in the ninth tied the game. Lance Berkman knotted it in the 10th, when the Cardinals overcame a two-run deficit.
That left Freese to run, arms waving, legs hopping, into stardom. He hit a 429-foot home run off Rangers reliever Mark Lowe, sending the crowd into delirium and his teammates rushing toward home plate like kids when piñata candy scatters.
Fittingly, in a game that was crude, raw and hardly reflecting a sport at its pinnacle, the Cardinals reveled in the slop.
This game was wrong on so many levels — but truly fascinating, the “Jersey Shore” of Fall Classics. By the end, even the fans were hoarse. There’s rarely been another game like this in the World Series.
After Freese’s ninth-inning triple, Josh Hamilton became buzzkill moments later, hitting a two-run home run. That, at last, appeared to be the final shot. Cockroaches and Chuck Norris are apparently easier to kill than the Cardinals.
After Albert Pujols was intentionally walked in the 10th, Berkman delivered a game-tying single.
“You had to be here to believe it,” Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said.
Such resilience was required on this night that featured five errors and a battery of runners left on base. No play was safe. The Cardinals dropped two popups, including one that popped out of third baseman Freese’s glove. Michael Young gripped the baseball like it was coated in Vaseline. In a forgettable performance, Cardinals slugger Matt Holliday was picked off third as the go-ahead run with a left-handed batter hitting, leading to an unobstructed view for catcher Mike Napoli.
In the end, the Cardinals were the evil of two lessers. They took command in the seventh with home runs by Adrian Beltre and Nelson Cruz, but could never exhale. As the pressure mounted, their bullpen was unable to finish off the Cardinals.
Feliz had Freese on a 1-2 count and inexplicably left a fastball out over the plate. Cruz made a poor attempt at the catch, tucking his arms before hitting the wall. Scott Feldman had Berkman on a 2-2 count before the slugger laced a single into center field.
As ugly as the win was, there was no need to apologize. Question is, how much will the Rangers agonize over this?
“I expect us to respond,” Rangers manager Ron Washington said. “It’s not easy to win a championship. We found that out tonight.”
The Rangers advanced to the World Series last year, a demolition crew that was oddly no match for the San Francisco Giants. A year later, they had staying power — the first American League team to advance in back-to-back years since the 2001 Yankees — and improved pitching.
Everything set up for the win. And then it unraveled in a stream of improbable hits that will make this game a classic.
“I thought we had it. We had a two-run lead in the ninth with our closer,” Washington said. “I felt good. We were one out away. Freese got us. Then Berkman got us. Then Freese ended it. Well, I was just praying we could get that last out.”
Troy E. Renck: 303-954-1301 or trenck@denverpost.com
