Freese Gets Over Local Jitters to Score Winning Run

David Freese, a local boy making it big with the St. Louis Cardinals, said he had to fight an impulse to soak in the special occasion of playing in the World Series before his home crowd.

Freese, emerging this postseason as a potent hitter in the Cardinals lineup, got over his jitters in time to smack a double to right-center in the sixth and came around to score the game-winning run on pinch-hitter Allen Craig's single.

His double to the outfield wall extended his postseason hitting streak to 11 games, a franchise record for the National League's most successful team.

I think a couple times maybe I've bounced around 10 games or so, he said when asked if this was his longest hitting streak. But it's pretty cool to be a part of that, as long as those hits help this team.

Freese admitted he was distracted by the hoopla at Busch Stadium as the Cardinals, who have won a National League-best 10 World Series, prepared to play in their 18th Fall Classic.

As far as being in this stadium, being from St. Louis and being a World Series, it's unreal, said the 28-year-old third baseman, whose career had been sidetracked by injuries.

I get caught looking at the fans and just seeing the excitement, and it's awesome to be a part of with this team.

But with that said, I've made sure coming into this that when we get out on that field that it's just another ballgame, and I think that's definitely helped me.

Freese has shown he belongs, earning MVP honors in the National League Championship Series win over the Milwaukee Brewers by batting .455 with three home runs and nine RBIs.

I think playing a team like Texas, you love to get off to a start like that, he said after Wednesday's 3-2 win. We've gone through two teams prior to the World Series where you definitely want to grab that first one.

But I think we view it as just a victory. You know, there's three more that we've got to grab, and this is obviously important because it puts us in a position to head that way.