Texas @ St. Louis preview

Last Meeting ( Oct 19, 2011 ) Texas 2, St. Louis 3

THE STORY: St. Louis looks to make it two straight victories to start the World Series when the Cardinals host the Texas Rangers in Game 2 on Thursday. St. Louis won the opening contest 3-2 with Allen Craig delivering the decisive pinch-hit single. Chris Carpenter pitched six strong innings and Lance Berkman added a two-run single. The potent Rangers received a two-run homer from Mike Napoli but managed just five other hits. Texas hasn’t lost consecutive games since late August.

TV: 8:05 p.m. ET, Fox.

PITCHING MATCHUP: Rangers RH Colby Lewis (14-10, 4.40 ERA) vs. Cardinals LH Jaime Garcia (13-7, 3.56 ERA)

Lewis is 1-1 with a 3.86 ERA in two postseason starts. He handled postseason pressure well last season when he went 3-0 and notched Texas’ only win in the World Series matchup with the San Francisco Giants. Lance Berkman is 0-for-7 with four strikeouts against Lewis.

Garcia is 0-2 with a 5.74 ERA in three postseason starts and didn’t make it through the fifth inning in two of the outings. He went 9-4 with a 2.55 ERA in 15 regular-season home starts. Matt Treanor (1-for-4) and Yorvit Torrealba (0-for-2) are the only Texas players to have faced Garcia.

ABOUT THE CARDINALS: Craig’s pinch-hit single came in the sixth inning and scored David Freese, who had doubled to start the inning. Freese, who was the MVP of the National League Championship Series, has hit safely in 11 consecutive postseason games. Berkman had two of the Cardinals’ six hits. Carpenter’s victory was his eighth career postseason win, surpassing legendary Bob Gibson for the franchise record. Jason Motte pitched a perfect ninth for his fifth save of the postseason as one of five relievers who blanked the Rangers on one hit over the final three innings.

ABOUT THE RANGERS: Napoli’s homer was his second of the postseason. Adrian Beltre and Ian Kinsler each had two hits. The 2-3-4 hitters of Elvis Andrus, Josh Hamilton and Michael Young were hitless in 11 at-bats. Young played first base with the designated hitter not being used in the NL park. Nelson Cruz was moved up from seventh to sixth in the order after his historic American League Championship Series record six homers. Cruz went 1-for-3 with a walk in the opener.

FINAL PITCH: Winning Game 1 seemingly gives the Cardinals a huge advantage since the winner of the opening game has won 12 of the last 14 World Series.