Lewis gunning to give Rangers first ever World Series

The St. Louis Cardinals are in a rut and Texas is on cloud nine with ace Colby Lewis preparing to take the mound and wrap up the Rangers first World Series title. Texas, who have not lost back-to-back games since late August, will hand the ball to righthanded American Lewis for game six on Wednesday with them leading the best of seven series 3-2. Lewis, who had a 14-10 record with a 2.95 ERA in the regular season, will face Cardinals lefthander Jaimie Garcia of Mexico. "I can't even explain my emotions right now," Rangers infielder Adrian Beltre said. "It is not going to be easy. But it is better going over there having to win one rather than two." The Rangers are back in the World Series after losing in five games in 2010 to the San Francisco Giants only this time they are facing the suddenly error-prone Cardinals team. The Rangers have two chances to win the first title in their 51-year franchise history at Busch Stadium. "I trust my players to try and get themselves in a position where they can be successful and they haven't let me down so far," said Rangers manager Ron Washington. Texas latest performance on the big stage was a come-from-behind 4-2 win over the Cardinals in game five which gave them a 3-2 series lead. Catcher Mike Napoli put his name in mix for World Series MVP with a bases-loaded double that drove in two runs in the eighth inning. Napoli, who has nine RBI in this year's World Series to lead the team, lined a one-out shot off lefthander Marc Rzepczynski. Rzepczynski was only in the game because some miscommunication between Cardinals manager Tony La Russa and the crew in the bullpen. The Rangers walked St. Louis slugger Albert Pujols three times Monday, tying a World Series record for most intentional walks of one player. But the charity didn't carry over to the ninth inning for Pujols, when Texas closer Neftali Felix struck him out on a 3-2 fastball as Pujols' teammate Allen Craig was thrown out for trying to steal second on the same play. The Rangers franchise began as the expansion Washington Senators in 1961 before the team moved to Texas and changed its name in 1972. Strangers to success the club's first 49 years of existence, this time around the Rangers have a better sense of what to expect. "We have a deep lineup. We do it all together," Napoli said. "We are going to prepare the same way. Go out and take out batting practice and then play the game. We are confident group. We expect to win every day and we play the game the right way." Napoli has not only dominated with his bat but also with his throwing arm. Twice he caught Cardinals' Craig trying to steal second late in game five. They haven't broke out the MVP chant just yet, but Texas fans have started chanting "Napoli!, Napoli!" every time the catcher comes up to the plate in the 2011 post-season. Nobody is writing off the Cardinals just yet in this roller-coaster series. St. Louis has proven itself to be a resilient team especially after their 20-game winner Adam Wainwright underwent reconstructive elbow surgery in February. Then St. Louis looked finished on August 25, when it was 10 1/2 games behind the Braves for the National League wild card. "There wasn't anything for eight and a half innings that was wrong about the way we went about the game," said La Russa of game five. "We played our butts off. We tried perfect but we didn't play perfect at times." St. Louis owns 10 World Series titles, second-most behind the New York Yankees (27), and are looking for their second championship in six seasons.