The best World Series Major League Baseball has produced in a decade comes crashing to a conclusion Friday night. Game 7 of the 2011 World Series (8:05 p.m. ET/FOX) will crown a champion in a brilliantly played, dramatic World Series between the Texas Rangers and St. Louis Cardinals.
It will also follow one of the greatest games in World Series history, an 11-inning thriller won by the Cardinals on a walk-off home run by David Freese after St. Louis had come back from two-run deficits in both the bottom of the ninth and 10th innings. Successfully navigating either inning would have given the championship to the Rangers.
Alas, this series will end the way it should -- with a winner-take-all Game 7. Matt Harrison will pitch for Texas and Chris Carpenter for St. Louis in the first Game 7 the World Series has seen since back-to-back seven-game series were played in 2001 (Yankees-Diamondbacks) and 2002 (Giants-Angels). Carpenter, the Cardinals' ace, is pitching on three days rest. His presence on the mound, and the fact that the Cardinals will be home, have made the Cardinals a -132 betting line favorite.
Game Details
Start time: Friday, 8:05 p.m. (Eastern)
TV Coverage: FOX
Projected starters and their postseason stats:
Cardinals: Chris Carpenter (3-0, 3.30 ERA)
Rangers: Matt Harrison (1-1, 5.02)
Around SB Nation
Cardinals' Coverage: SB Nation St. Louis and Viva El Birdos
Rangers' Coverage: SB Nation Dallas and Lone Star Ball