Rangers Pull Out Game 2 In Ninth Inning

After eight innings last night, the Texas Rangers trailed the St. Louis Cardinals 1-0, and were in danger of going down two games in the series. The thing about baseball is, there's always hope. The Rangers rallied for two runs in the ninth, evened the series at a game a piece, and head back to Texas for Game 3 tomorrow night.

When the Series shifts to Texas on Saturday night, Matt Harrison starts Game 3 for the Rangers and Kyle Lohse for the Cardinals. Derek Holland goes for the Rangers in Game 4 on Sunday and Edwin Jackson for the Cardinals.

Texas, seeking the first Series title in franchise history, had not lost consecutive games since Aug. 23-25 at Boston and was hoping to avoid a repeat of last year, when the Rangers went to San Francisco and were swept by the Giants 11-7 and 9-0 in the first two games. The Giants went on to win the Series in five games - with the finale also scoreless through six innings.

Teams winning the opener have won seven of the last eight titles, 12 of the last 14 and 19 of the last 23. Of the 52 clubs taking 2-0 Series leads, 41 have gone on to win, including eight in a row and 15 of the last 16. The exception was the 1996 Atlanta Braves, who won the first two games at Yankee Stadium and then lost four in a row.

Of teams that won Game 2 to even the Series, 29 of 54 have gone on to win - but just two of the last seven, the 2002 Angels and the 2009 Yankees.

[dallasnews.com]