Following the St. Louis Cardinals victory over the Milwaukee Brewers, the 2011 World Series matchup was finally set and will pit the Cardinals against the Texas Rangers who reached the series by beating the Tampa Bay Rays and the Detroit Tigers.
The Rangers knocked the Tigers out in six games behind a couple of extra inning wins. Nelson Cruz, the ALCS record-setting MVP, hit a pair of homeruns in the eleventh inning in separate games to lead the Rangers to victory.
Despite winning the series, the Rangers picked up 0 wins from its starting pitching but took the series after the team’s offense scored over six runs a game.
The Cardinals reached the World Series with a come from behind win over the Philadelphia Phillies in the NLDS and then beating the Brewers, who won the NL Central (also the Cardinals division) during the season.
Like the Rangers, the Cardinals starting pitchers struggled in the series (aside from Chris Carpenter) but a good bullpen and an offense that put up more than seven runs per game.
Heading into the World Series both teams will look for their starters to step it up a notch to bring the Championship trophy home. Chris Carpenter has really been the only consistent starter for either team as he shut down the Phillies in Game 5 of the NLDS before beating the Brewers in Game 3 of the NLCS.
The two teams starters have combined for a 5.43 ERA this postseason (and both were worse in the Championship Series than the Division Series) and will now have to face offenses that are firing on all cylinders.
In the regular season, the Rangers (2nd, 3rd) and Cardinal (5th) were in the top five in the Majors in both Runs and OPS. Both teams sported average pitching staffs over the year and we should see a series full of fireworks, especially with some of the games being played in Arlington.
If there wasn’t enough anticipation for the World Series, Nolan Ryan threw some gasoline on the fire already predicting the Rangers would win in six games. While the Cardinals don’t need any more reason to want the Championship, it’s still bulletin board material from one of the All-Time greats.
The World Series will kick off Wednesday night in St. Louis with Chris Carpenter facing C.J. Wilson.
Used with permission of the author.
Brett is the editor and a contributor for www.BravesFTW.com. He has covered MLB and the Braves for numerous websites and is a regular contributor to Sports Climax. Follow Brett on Twitter.
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