Berkman one win from first World Series

ST. LOUIS -- A veteran of 1,774 regular-season games, Cardinals outfielder Lance Berkman will have a chance Friday night to do something he's never done: raise the World Series trophy. The 35-year-old Berkman hit a two-run homer in the first inning and later tied the score in the bottom of the 10th with a two-out, two-strike single to help the Cardinals pull off one of the most dramatic comebacks in World Series history. Berkman's heroics in the 10th allowed David Freese to provide the final punch, a game-ending walk-off home run in the bottom of the 11th inning that gave the Cardinals a historic 10-9 win over the Texas Rangers in Game 6 at Busch Stadium. Down to their final strike in two different innings, the Cardinals will now play a winner-take-all Game 7 at Busch Stadium in hopes of winning their second World Championship in the past five years. The veteran Berkman signed with the Cardinals in the offseason in hopes of reaching this point. Now he's here, just one winfrom his first World Series title. "As a baseball player, this is the greatest game I've ever played in," Berkman said. "The only thing that comes close is that 18-inning game we played ahgainst the Braves in the '05 NLDS, and we won that also on a walk-off by Chris Burke. "I mean to be able to do it twice against a tough closer, it's just -- it's special." The win also ensures at least one more game for Albert Pujols in a Cardinals uniform. The soon-to-be free agent started the first of two dramatic comebacks with a one-out double in the bottom of the ninth inning. With the Cardinals trailing 7-5 in the ninth, Pujols doubled to center and Berkman walked to put the tying runs on base with one out. Allen Craig struck out looking for the second out before Freese tripled off the wall in right on a 1-2 pitch to score both runners and tie the score. "It's just amazing," Pujols said. "It's unbelievable. This whole year, the way we've been battling, they are one strike away from winning the 2011 World Series and Lance got that base hit and Freese got a base hit against one of the best closers in the game. It's just amazing. I don't even know what to do. I don't even know what to say. "It's pretty special. I think this is something the fans, not just here, but our fans all over the country, Cardinals fans that were watching here or out of the state, they are going to remember this game." Playing like a man who realized he might not get this close to winning the whole thing ever again, Berkman put the Cardinals on top 2-1 with a two-run, two-out homer in the first inning after the Rangers jumped out to a1-0 lead in the first. Berkman reached on an error in the fourth inning and scored the tying run on a Yadier Molina groundout. Berkman then singled with one out to start a rally in the sixth inning and again scored the tying run on a Molina bases-loaded walk. Pujols had been 0 for 4 in the game and hadn't had a hit since homering in the ninth inning of Game 3 in Texas. Pujols went 5 for 6 with three home runs that night but had yet to record a hit in any of the other five World Series games until the ninth. When it was over, Pujols called it the greatest game he's ever seen. "At least that I've seen in the 31 years that I've been alive," Pujols said. "My 11 years in the big leagues, I mean this is pretty special man. This is what baseball is all about. Having the opportunity to go to Game 7 in the World Series is unbelievable." "This is unbelievable. This is what its all about. This is what baseball is all about. If you don't think that was an exciting game and if I didn't tell you that was the best game I played in, I'd be lying to you. It's the best game. But it's just another game and it will be sweeter if we can finish it off tomorrow." Berkman ironically chose the Cardinals over the Rangers in the offseason.The Rangers were the only team Berkman would have accepted a trade to during the year but when rumors started to swirl, he told the Cardinals he wanted to stay. Pujols won the World Series with the Cardinals in 2006, a year after Berkman's Astros lost the 2005 Fall Classic to the Chicago White Sox. But thanks to arguably the biggest hit of his career, Berkman is just one win from earning a ring of his own.