Rangers History Today: World Series Heartbreak
On this date in franchise history, the Texas Rangers experienced nothing but World Series heartbreak, one year apart.
On Oct. 28, 2011, the Rangers faced the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 7 of the World Series. Less than 24 hours earlier, the Rangers had been one strike away from clinching the series on two different occasions — in the bottom of the ninth and in the bottom of the 10th. In the 11th, St. Louis’ David Freese hit a home run to end the game and force a decisive seventh game.
It started with promise for the Rangers. Josh Hamilton and Michael Young had RBI doubles in the top of the first off St. Loui starter Chris Carpenter, who was starting his third World Series game. Perhaps the Rangers had shrugged off the disappointment of the previous night.
No such luck. That Freese guy showed up again in the bottom of the first and his two-run double tied the game, breaking the postseason RBI record in the process.
From there, it was slow, agonizing pain for Rangers fans as they watched the Cardinals pull away. Allen Craig hit the go-ahead home run in the third. Craig robbed Nelson Cruz of a home run in the sixth. The Cardinals scored two runs in the fifth without a hit.
And the Rangers watched as the Cardinals celebrated their championship as Jason Motte closed the game out for the Cardinals in a 6-2 victory.
One year earlier, on Oct. 28, 2010, the Rangers played the San Francisco Giants in Game 2 of the World Series. What started as a pitchers’ duel between San Francisco's Matt Cain and Texas' C.J. Wilson got way out of hand in the eighth inning.
The Giants were up 2-0 after seven innings, and after the Rangers were unable to score a run in the top of the eighth, the Giants exploded for seven runs. In fact, the Giants scored those seven runs with two outs, and did it all without a home run. The Giants won the game, 9-0, to take a 2-0 series lead.
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