Year of the Napoli a game away from historic achievement, Rangers clinch Game 5
The Texas Rangers had a lot to fight for on Monday, October 24, when they faced the St. Louis Cardinals at the Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. The club won Game 5 of the World Series with a 4 – 2 score line and it now puts them a game away from a title clinch. They are 3 – 2 in the tournament and they will be heading back to the Busch Stadium in St. Louis to play Game 6 and Game 7, if the series extends further.
The winner came from a double off Mike Napoli’s bat. While the Cards put Chris Carpenter through seven innings of the game, the Rangers managed to put up a fight with C. J. Wilson, who pitched 5.1 innings. The remainder of the innings were pitched by the regular bullpen roster as the Cards failed to put the nail through the coffin with tie-breaking runs. Year of the Napoli claimed another highlight on Monday as the Rangers pulled off two runs in the eighth inning to win the encounter.
Carpenter lasted seven innings, conceding two home runs off six hits. Octavio Dotel earned the loss for the club as he conceded a hit and a walk to put Michael Young and Nelson Cruz on first and second base. He later earned the two runs when the hitters from his stint ran home off a double from Napoli. Marc Rzepczynski conceded the two-run RBI double.
St. Louis manager Tony La Russa talked about his club’s chances at a winner and surmised the game in disappointment.
"We had a lot of chances," La Russa said. "What did we have, nine or 10 [chances] to add a run? ... It's a really tough loss, because we had the opportunity to add the runs where you can make a mistake or have some kind of snafu and you still win the game. So it's a very disappointing, frustrating loss."
The Cards kicked off the scoring trail in the second inning when Yadier Molina pushed a single through the left field to put Matt Holiday in for the first run of the game. Lance Berkman ran to third base on an erroneous field from David Murphy and he scored the second run when Skip Schumaker grounded out to first base.
After that it was the Rangers that led the game in runs. Mitch Moreland smashed a homer in the third inning and then Adrian Beltre slammed a homer in the sixth to equalize the encounter on 2 – 2.
The Rangers finally provided the winner in the eighth as Mike Napoli smashed a double against Rzepczynski to lead Michael Young and Nelson Cruz for two runs. The hitter told the press on what he was trying to do on a bases loaded situation.
"Just trying to get something to the outfield, you know, get a sac fly, get that run across the board," Napoli said. "I was trying to stay short and I got a pitch I could handle over the middle of the plate and put it in the gap."
With the Rangers now 3 – 2, they need one more win to clinch the World Series title.
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