When C.J. Wilson(notes) walked off the mound during thesixth inning in what could have been his last start for the Rangers, they weredown by a run.
This time, his outing was good enough for Texas.
Despite another erratic performance against the St. Louis Cardinals, Wilsonkept his team close in a second World Series matchup with ace Chris Carpenter.
He was getting in trouble and getting out, and I was certainly hoping forthe one inning when he could go out there and find his rhythm, Rangers managerRon Washington said. It was a battle for him all night. He kept us in theballgame even though it wasnt a C.J.-like type game.
The Rangers tied the score in the bottom of the sixth, took the lead in theeighth and are one win from their first championship after a 4-2 victory Mondaynight that gave them a 3-2 Series lead.
Winless this postseason (0-3, 6.08 ERA in five starts) after winning 16games as Texas No. 1 starter in the regular season, Wilson walked five batters,threw a wild pitch and had a fielding error. Two of his walks in Game 5 wereintentional passes to slugger Albert Pujols(notes).
Yet the Rangers trailed only 2-1 when the free agent-to-be lefty exited withone out and one on in the sixth. Wilsons 108th and last pitch was a single byDavid Freese(notes).
In situations like this where you have everything on the line and its themost important game of your career, you cant let the situation overwhelm you,Wilson said. I have confidence in myself because Ive done it so many times.At this point in the year, Ive thrown I dont even know how many innings andIve been in that situation before. Its not a big deal.
If I can hold the line, then our teams going to come back and score, headded. Thats the way I feel every time.
Colby Lewis(notes) starts Game 6 for Texas against Jaime Garcia(notes) on Wednesday nightin St. Louis.
Since making the transition from the bullpen, Wilson has gone 31-15 with a3.14 ERA over 67 starts the past two regular seasons. Including the postseason,he has thrown 478 1-3 innings during that span
When asked about the possibility that he might have pitched his last gamefor the Rangers, Wilson said he wasnt going to respond to that question.
Drafted by Texas in 2001, Wilson made his major league debut four yearslater. He took over as the teams No. 1 starter after ace left-hander Cliff Lee(notes)left in free agency following last years World Series loss to San Francisco.
The Cardinals got both their runs in the second, an inning that started withconsecutive walks to Matt Holliday(notes) and Lance Berkman(notes). Before the second walk,Holliday had already slid headfirst into second base after Wilson threw a wildpitch that bounced at the feet of Berkman and got away from catcher Mike Napoli(notes).
After Freese hit a fly ball, Yadier Molina(notes) had an RBI single to left beforeSkip Schumaker(notes) drove in another run with a groundball for a 2-0 lead.
Rafael Furcal(notes) then opened the third with a bunt single. He went to secondbase after Wilson, who had slipped coming off the mound, picked up the ball withhis bare hand and tried to a backhand flip. The ball barely got off the groundand rolled past first baseman Mitch Moreland(notes) for an error.
But Wilson escaped unscathed when, after an intentional walk to Pujols,Holliday grounded into an inning-ending double play.
C.J., hes a workhorse. Even if he doesnt have his stuff that night, hesgoing to do whatever he can to keep his team in the game, said Moreland, whohad a long homer in the third. Hes been a great, great guy to play behind forus as our No. 1 through the year. Tonight kind of proved it. It might not havebeen his best night, he might not have had his stuff or his location, but hekept us in the game. Thats what hes going to do.
In Game 1 of the World Series on the road, Wilson had a Rangerspostseason-high six walks (two intentional). He gave up three runs in 5 2-3innings, but left with the game tied 2-all before Texas lost 3-2.
The 11 walks by Wilson in this World Series are the most since AllieReynolds had 11 for the 1951 Yankees, according to STATS LLC. His 19 walks inthe postseason match Jaret Wrights mark set in 1997.
Whether C.J. put a bunch of guys on or whatever, he kept them off thescoreboard, second baseman Ian Kinsler(notes) said. Its not the way he wanted topitch, its not the way any of us thought he would pitch, but he did his job.
Scott Feldman(notes) finished off the sixth, allowing a single to Molina beforegetting a grounder and then striking out Nick Punto(notes) for the third out.
Then, with two outs in the bottom of the inning, Adrian Beltre(notes) dropped tohis knee on a home run that tied the game at 2. Napoli, hitting eighth, had atwo-run double in the eighth that moved the Rangers within one win of a title inthe franchises 51st season.
Were close, Beltre said. But were not done yet.
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