World Series report By Joseph Hawkes-Beamon October 19, 2011     Craig, Carpenter steers Cardinals to Game 1 victory St. Louis – Allen Craig’s pinch-hit RBI single in the bottom of the sixth uncorks a 2-2 tie in Game 1 of the best-of-seven Fall Classic leading St. Louis to a 3-2 victory over Texas and a 1-0 series lead. It was the first go-ahead RBI by a pinch-hitter in the World Series since New York’s Wade Boggs in 1996 against Atlanta. Craig had the first go-ahead, game-winning RBI hit by a pinch-hitter in a World Series Game 1 since Kirk Gibson's home run in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series After Rangers starter C.J. Wilson (0-1) hit Albert Pujols and surrendered a double to Matt Holliday, Lance Berkman gave the Cardinals an early 2-0 lead by smashing a single to scoring Pujols and Holliday. Wilson pitched 5 2/3 innings while walking six batters on 94 pitches. The Rangers quickly tied the game up at 2-2, when Mike Napoli hit a 1-0 sinker deep into the right-field seats of Busch Stadium off Cardinals starter Chris Carpenter (1-0) in the top of the fifth, but were 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position overall. Carpenter pitched six strong innings striking out four on 87 pitches. Fernando Salas was a bit shaky in the seventh, but Marc Rzepczynski got a pair of strikeouts to bail him out. Octavio Dotel and Arthur Rhodes tag-teamed the eighth, with Rhodes returning the extremely dangerous Josh Hamilton to end the frame, and Jason Motte kept doing what he's been doing to close out the win in the ninth. The winner of Game 1 has captured seven of the last eight titles, 12 of the last 14 and 19 of the last 23. In addition, the team hosting Game 1 has won 20 of the last 25 World Series. Thursday’s Game 2 will feature right-hander Colby Lewis for Texas and Jaime Garcia for St. Louis. Game notes • According to STATS LLC,The NL is seeking its first consecutive World Series titles since winning four in a row from 1979-82 (Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Los Angeles and St. Louis). • The Cardinals moved ahead of the Dodgers with their 106th World Series game, trailing only the Yankees (225). • It was the earliest date the World Series started since 2003. • David Freese's 11-game hit streak is tied for the second-longest by a 3rd baseman in the postseason. Alex Rodriguez and Carey Lansford also have 11-game streaks. Brooks Robinson has a 14-game streak. • Cardinals have won 5 straight HOME Game 1's. That is tied for longest streak ever by an NL team (Giants and Braves).

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