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| Cardinals rout Tigers in World Series opener | | By: Larry Fine | | Sun Oct 22, 2006 5:27 AM ET
(Pic)- St. Louis Cardinals relief pitcher Braden Looper (L) and catcher Yadier Molina celebrate as the Cardinals defeated the Detroit Tigers in Game 1 in Major League Baseball's World Series in Detroit October 21, 2006. REUTERS/Mike Segar
DETROIT (Reuters) - The St Louis Cardinals drew first blood in the 102nd World Series on Saturday, beating the Detroit Tigers 7-2 the opening game of the best-of-seven Fall Classic.
The National League champion Cards were boosted by the dazzling pitching of rookie Anthony Reyes, the power-hitting of Albert Pujols and Scott Rolen, and sloppy play by Detroit.
Reyes, a 25-year-old right-hander who was a poor 5-8 with a 5.06 earned run average in the regular season, gave up a first-inning run before retiring 17 Tigers in a row as the Cardinals poured it on.
Reyes gave up just four hits and two runs in 8-1/3 innings for the win. Justin Verlander took the loss, giving up all seven runs despite striking out eight in five innings work.
"He doesn't scare, he's got great composure and when he's got it rolling he's got great weapons," St Louis manager Tony La Russa told reporters about his rookie hurler, who mixed his pitches and used a sneaky fastball to bust hitters inside.
Game Two of the Series will be played in Detroit on Sunday, with the Tigers starting left-hander Kenny Rogers (17-8, 3.84 in the regular season) against the Cards' Jeff Weaver (8-14, 5.76).
The American League champion Tigers got on the scoreboard first with a run in the opening inning but from then on it was all St Louis.
A homer by Rolen tied the game 1-1 in the second inning.
In the third inning, the Tigers decided to be aggressive and pitch to slugger Pujols with two outs, a man on second and first base open.
Pujols punished the first pitch from Verlander, driving an outside offering into the right-field bleachers for a two-run homer and a 4-1 St Louis lead. Yadier Molina scored the first run of the frame on a double by Chris Duncan.
"The manager's decision is to either pitch to him or walk him, and obviously he burned us," Detroit skipper Jim Leyland said about Pujols. "I take the bullet there. It's my decision. I'll leave it at that. I'll take the heat for that."
DETROIT ERRORS
Three Detroit errors, including two on the same play by third baseman Brandon Inge, opened the door to three more runs for St Louis in the sixth.
With men on second and third and no one out, Juan Encarnacion hit a bad-hop bouncer to Inge, who bobbled the ball and then threw wildly to the plate in the hope of nailing Pujols running from third.
Inge was standing in the baseline as he watched the end of the play and was nearly run over by Rolen dashing toward home from second base. Inge was charged with another error for obstruction and Rolen was allowed to score.
The Tigers had got on the board first when Carlos Guillen singled to right to drive in Craig Monroe, who had slashed a one-out double down the left-field line.
Monroe also homered in the bottom of the ninth to make it 7-2.
The Tigers were playing their first game in a week since claiming the AL crown last Saturday when they completed a sweep over the Oakland Athletics. The Cardinals did not advance until a Game Seven victory over the New York Mets on Thursday.
Leyland would not blame the shaky play of the Tigers on the long layoff.
"I just think you give the other team credit. I thought Reyes pitched great," Leyland said, adding he would not use the layoff as a "copout."
The victory ended the American League's streak of eight World Series wins in a row, coming on four-game sweeps in 2004 by the Boston Red Sox over the Cardinals, and the Chicago White Sox against the Houston Astros in 2005.
For the Cardinals, the win ended their own eight-game World Series losing streak. Besides the 2004 loss to Boston, the Cards were also swept in the 1990 Series by the Cincinnati Reds.
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