It's the bottom of the ninth. The Cardinals are losing 7-5, and David Freese is at the plate with a 1-2 count and two outs. Joe Buck took over. "Into right, well hit, back at the wall...it's off the wall. One run scores. Here comes Berkman. Freese has tied it, 7-7! Unbelievable."
Then, the call we'll always remember: "Freese hits it in the air to center, we will see you tomorrow night!"
Seeing the Texas Rangers back in St. Louis last weekend probably brought back some nostalgia for Cardinals fans. It was a night that will forever live in St. Louis lore as one of the best games in not only St. Louis sports history, but baseball history.
Most sports fans will always remember that night, Oct. 27, 2011. If you're a Cardinals fan (or Rangers fan), you'll most likely always remember where you were the night of game six. It was just one of those moments.
I remember I was at a friend's house watching the game, and I just felt that it wasn't the Cardinals' night to win. If you remember Freese dropping the pop up at third base, you couldn't help but think that the Cardinals' season was going to come to an end. Once the Rangers scored three runs in the top of the seventh inning to take a three-run lead, it was all but over.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, with one out and Allen Craig up to bat, the Rangers had a 95 percent win probability, according to baseball-reference.com. But then Craig belted a solo home run to decrease the Cardinals' deficit to two. It's just what the Cardinals needed to make their ninth inning comeback manageable. It's Craig's home run that is usually forgotten, but without it, the magic of game six may have never happened.
Freese tied the game in the bottom of the ninth inning, but the Rangers took the lead once again in the 10th inning and scored two. The Cardinals were up against the wall once again.
But this time in the bottom half of the inning, Lance Berkman had to be the hero.
After an RBI ground out by Ryan Theriot, Berkman was down to his final strike. He drove a liner up the middle, which scored Jon Jay.
Game tied. Again.
After Jake Westbrook retired the Rangers in four batters in the top of the 11th inning, Freese led off the bottom of the inning. I remember thinking to myself, "This is the first inning in a while that the Cardinals don't have to score to prevent a loss."
Well, a short time later, Freese forever cemented himself into the hearts of Cardinals fans all around the world. He gave the Cardinals one more shot to win the World Series, which they took care of the next night.