St. Louis Cardinals greet David Freese, right, at home after Freese hit the game-winning solo home run off a pitch by Texas Rangers' Mark Lowe in the 11th inning.
An error-laden, eye-rolling game turned into edge-of-your-seat action. Hopefully you hadn’t turned off the TV by then.
And if you didn’t, the hours of sleep you lost were well warranted. The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Texas Rangers 10-9 in a thrilling 11th-inning win to keep their World Series hopes alive, coming back twice on what could have been the final strike of the game.
The highlight reel is very much a Freese frame on the walk-off 11th inning home run. Cardinals’ third baseman David Freese smashed a dramatic bomb to center field. But it was the second time he won the game for the Cardinals last night.
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Texas continued to push toward their first World Series win, but the much-raved-about Rangers bullpen crumbled under pressure. In the bottom of the ninth, Freese was again at the plate, facing ace pitcher Neftali Feliz. Two outs, two strikes on him. It could have been the last pitch of the game – and Freese hit a deep ball to right field. It was a two-run triple that evened the score at 7, with the game heading to extra innings. No sleep for Busch Stadium last night, it would seem.
And in the top of the tenth, the Rangers attempted to put it away again. Heavy-hitter Josh Hamilton, who hadn’t hit a homer all postseason, finally clinched a clutch one. His two-run blast put the Rangers up 9-7. Was this game finally over?
To the bottom of the tenth: solid slugging brought in a St. Louis run, but they were still down by one. Cardinals’ first baseman Lance Berkman was at the plate, again down to what could have been the last strike of the game. A base hit to center field brought home John Jay on third base, tying the game at 9.
A fruitless top of the eleventh for Texas, then Freese entered in the bottom to bring home a huge Cardinals win at their home park. To game seven we go. May it be half as thrilling.
Nick Carbone is a reporter at TIME. Find him on Twitter at @nickcarbone. You can also continue the discussion on TIME’s Facebook page and on Twitter at @TIME.