The St Louis Cardinals opened the baseball World Series with a 3-2 victory over the Texas Rangers, combining some timely hitting with a stingy bullpen to win a pitchers’ duel at chilly Busch Stadium on Wednesday.
After a league championship series dominated by the sluggers, pitching ruled Game One of the Fall Classic as pinch hitter Allen Craig’s run-scoring single in the sixth inning provided the winning margin for starter Chris Carpenter.
Craig lashed a sixth-inning single down the right-field line that eluded Rangers rightfielder Nelson Cruz and allowed David Freese to trot home from third, breaking a 2-2 tie.
St Louis starter Chris Carpenter got the win, yielding two runs on five hits over six innings. However, five relievers took over, giving up just one hit and no runs the rest of the way.
Jason Motte got the save for the Cardinals, pitching a scoreless ninth to the delight of the 46,406 home fans.
Rangers starter C.J. Wilson took the loss, giving up three runs and four hits over 5-2/3 innings.
Lance Berkman lined a two-run single to right in the fourth inning to give the Cardinals a 2-0 lead, but Mike Napoli belted a two-run homer an inning later to tie the score at 2-2.
Game Two was scheduled for yesterday in St Louis before the series shifts to Dallas for Game Three tomorrow.
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