Teammates celebrate with Cardinals' David Freese, middle, after he hit a walk-off home run to open the bottom of the 11th inning in Game 6 Thursday. If he drives in a run Friday, the third baseman would set a major league record for RBIs in a single post-season. He has 19. (Eric Gay/Associated Press)
OK, now that everyone has caught their breath, checked their blood pressure and shaken the cobwebs from the few winks they managed following a wild Game 6 in the 107th World Series, it's time to take a look at Friday's Game 7 from various angles.
The hometown St. Louis Cardinals are seeking their 11th title, while the Texas Rangers are looking to redeem themselves from a Series loss to San Francisco last fall and hoist the first trophy in the franchise's 51-year history ...
Let's the start with most important question: How many rain delays are millions of TV viewers and the 47,000-plus at Busch Stadium in St. Louis going to have to sit through?
How about zero! Weather forecast calls for clear skies and a game-time temperature around 2 C ...
Next question (asked in the tone of a perturbed Barry Bonds): Is career playoff standout Chris Carpenter going to start Game 7 in search of his franchise-record ninth post-season victory?
Yes.
So, it's Carpenter vs. Matt Harrison (no relation to the guy who penned this blog). Not exactly the stellar Game 7 matchups of past Series like Schilling vs. Clemens in 2001 or Morris vs. Smoltz in 1991.
3 days' rest
Carpenter will be pitching on three days' rest. The only other time he did that was earlier in these playoffs when the Cardinals ace surrendered four runs in three innings in Game 2 of the NL Division Series against Philadelphia - the 2011 Series champion of choice of many so-called experts ...
In the past two decades, starters on short rest have a 9-8 record and 2.78 earned-run average in the World Series, with their teams going 12-15, according to STATS LLC ...
Remember, in 2001 it was Randy Johnson who came out of the Arizona bullpen on no days' rest and watched his team rally against seemingly invincible Yankees closer Mariano Rivera as Luis Gonzalez provided the winning hit on a broken-bat single ...
To ease any concerns of Cardinals boosters, the barking Carpenter is unbeaten in six playoff starts (6-0, 2.03 earned-run average) ... and he's held Michael Young to only two hits in 12 career at-bats (.167) ... Did we mention that Adrian Beltre and Series MVP candidate Mike Napoli (how does that ankle feel today, Mike?) have each gone 4-for-8 with a combined three home runs ...
Carpenter is set to become just the second pitcher since 1991 to make three Series starts. Curt Schilling started three times in the 1991 championship - bloody sock and all ...
Back to 2011 as Harrison took the loss in Game 3 of this series (3.2 ip, five runs, three earned runs) but for those in a betting mood it's worth noting he's 3-0 in his last seven road starts with a solid 3.20 ERA ...
Furthermore, Texas hasn't dropped two games in a row since a three-game skid from Aug. 23-25 against Boston ...
Record in sight
Game 6 hero David Freese (yes, the man who quit baseball after his senior year of high school) will look to drive in more runs Friday. Should he succeed, the Cardinals third baseman would set the all-time post-season record for RBIs in a single post-season. He's at 19 now (tied with three others) ...
Freese is the only player in Series history to have the game-tying hit in the bottom of the ninth inning and win it with another hit in extra innings ... Teammates Jon Jay, Rafael Furcal and the injured Matt Holliday (ruled out of Game 7) are the lone Cardinals regulars/semi-regulars without an RBI in the Series. For Texas, it's David Murphy and Elvis Andrus ...
Rangers outfielder Nelson Cruz went deep Thursday night for the eighth time in these playoffs, tying Bonds (2002) and Carlos Beltran (2004) for most all-time. All eight long balls have come against right-handed pitchers, and he's 0-for-11 this post-season versus lefties ...
The home team has prevailed in eight consecutive World Series Game 7s. Pittsburgh's "We Are Family" squad is the last to do so on the road, winning at Baltimore in 1979 ...
Eight of the last nine clubs to win Game 6 of the World Series after trailing 3-2 in games have captured Game 7, with the 1997 Cleveland Indians the lone exception ...
Friday night marks the first Game 7 in a World Series since 2002 when the Los Angeles Angels downed San Francisco. The nine-year gap is a major league record.
Let's play ball!
Doug Harrison
Doug Harrison joined CBCSports.ca as a senior writer in 2003. Prior to that, the Burlington, Ont., native was a writer/editor at Faceoff.com.
