The St. Louis Cardinals and the Texas Rangers made it to the World Series in large part thanks to their lively bats. Defense and pitching has ruled the World Series so far, however, with the Rangers evening the series at 1-1 after a 2-1 victory on Thursday.

The Cardinals entered the ninth inning up 1-0 thanks to an RBI single from Allen Craig in the seventh. St. Louis appeared close to winning with Jason Motte taking the mound, but Ian Kinsler started a rally with a bloop single. Kinsler stole second, then advanced to third when Elvis Andrus singled to center. Albert Pujols' "error" helped Andrus advance to second, which was key as consecutive sacrifice flies by Josh Hamilton and Michael Young allowed Kinsler and Andrus to score, giving Texas the lead.

The series heads to Texas on Saturday, with the Rangers now holding home-field advantage. Matt Harrison will take the mound for the home team. He'll battle Kyle Lohse, who struggled in his last start in the NLCS, giving up six hits and three earned runs against the Milwaukee Brewers in just four innings of work. 

Start time: 8:05 p.m. EDT

TV coverage: FOX

Projected starters and their postseason stats:
Kyle Lohse (0-2, 7.45 ERA) vs. Matt Harrison (1-0, 4.22 ERA)

For more on the Texas Rangers, be sure to visit Lone Star Ball. Check out Viva El Birdos for all of your St. Louis Cardinals news and analysis.