St. Louis manager Tony La Russa pulled off a masterstroke by bringing in Allen Craig as a pinch-hitter and watching the replacement deliver the go-ahead run that gave the Cardinals a 3-2 win over the Texas Rangers in Wednesday's World Series opener. Craig's slicing hit in the sixth inning fell inches in front of sliding Texas right fielder Nelson Cruz as the go-ahead run came in from third base. The Cardinals bullpen then hung on to deliver a victory on a cold, damp evening. “Man, he's tough,” Craig said of hard-throwing Rangers reliever Alexi Ogando. “He came right at me with fastballs, and I missed the first two. Then that last one I was trying to get the barrel on it, make the defense make a play. Fortunate, kept it fair, and Cruz made a great attempt on that. It was a great play all-around.” It was a game perfectly suited for the National League style — lots of bunts, intentional walks and pitching changes. And in a postseason in which he's made all the right moves, the 67-year-old La Russa was at the top of his game. After pulling starting pitcher Chris Carpenter, La Russa coaxed three scoreless innings from his deep bullpen. Five relievers did the job, with Jason Motte closing for his fifth save of the postseason. A day earlier, Texas manager Ron Washington joked: “I don't think I can ever live up to matching wits with Tony La Russa.” Game 2 is Thursday, with Jaime Garcia starting for the Cards against Colby Lewis. Texas has not lost two straight games since August. This was the first time Texas had ever played in St. Louis. Yet Josh Hamilton, Cruz and the big-hitting Rangers looked a lot like the team that fizzled at the plate in last year's World Series against San Francisco. Each team wound up with six hits. The wild-card Cardinals just did more with them. Carpenter earned his eighth postseason win, breaking the team record he shared with Bob Gibson. Of course, all of Gibby's victories came in the World Series. “Carp, he did what he usually does,” Craig said. “He was our leader out there tonight. Went out there and threw strikes, got early outs, and he led us tonight. It was great.” C.J. Wilson fell to 0-5 in his last seven postseason starts, dating to last year.
