Cardinals look to Pujols as Rangers come to town in search of first title

THE Texas Rangers can wrap up their first ever World Series in St Louis tonight unless the hosting Cardinalsrediscover their hitting form in front of their own fans at Busch Stadium (ESPN America, 00.30am).

St Louis trail their American League opponents 3-2 in the series after failing to capitalise on Albert Pujols’ historic three home runs in Dallas on Saturday night, a game which gave the visitors a 2-1 lead overall.

Pujols, who will become a free agent once the current season ends and isexpected to command a record-breaking contract from either his current club or whoever manages to prise him away, was just the third player to achieve the feat during the Fall Classic — Babe Ruth did it twice in the 1920s while Reggie Jackson went deep three times against the LA Dodgers to help win the 1977 title, also for the New York Yankees.

But since that dramatic Cardinals win in the Rangers Ballpark inArlington, Texas have taken overcourtesy of impressive performances from pitcher Derek Holland and big-hitting catcher Mike Napoli, who have both helped take their team to within one win of the championship.

“It’s not going to be easy,” Texas second baseman Ian Kinsler said. “It has been difficult all the way through the play-offs, and it’s not easy to win a World Series. We just have to keep coming out with the best we have. It’s been a great series, just a bunch of great baseball games.”

Cardinals manager Tony La Russa was heavily criticised after Monday night’s 4-2 loss as a number of strange decisions ensured one of the more bizarre tussles in recent World Series history.

But it was Mitch Moreland and Adrian Beltre who really opened the game up for the hosts after each player scored a home run, pegging back St Louis’ 2-0 lead and setting up the platform for Napoli’s game-winning two-run double in the eighth inning.

“I’m glad I can help to contribute,” Napoli said. “Anybody in this line-up can do it. You’ve got to give Beltre credit for hitting the homer to tie the game up. If he doesn’t do that, I don’t have a chance to do what I did in the eighth inning. We all do it together, and there are key things that are overlooked, but we fought hard.”

Texas fell short at this stage last year, losing out to the San Francisco Giants and charismatic Texas manager Ron Washington vowed after Monday’s win that his side wouldn’t be taking anything for granted at the home of the 10-time champions.

“We certainly won’t be out there thinking about we’ve just got to win one game,” he said. “I’ve been there before, and that doesn’t work.”