vs.         

   Record: 105-57 (7-1 Playoffs)                                     Record: 92-70 (7-4 Playoffs)

Game 6: Chicago 3 - St. Louis 2 (Chicago wins series 4-2)

WP: Aaron Cook

LP: Brandon Webb

SV: Bobby Jenks

Key Play: In a pitcher's duel between the Cardinals Brandon Webb and White Sox Aaron Cook, runs were hard to come by.  However, after an Engel Beltre steal of 2nd in the bottom of the 4th inning, former Cardinal C Yadier Molina gets a base hit to drive in what would prove to be the winning and championship clinching run. 

Game 1: St. Louis 2- Chicago 0 (St. Louis leads series 1-0)

WP: John Lannan

LP: Ricky Nolasco

SV: Rafael Soriano

Key Play: After a Yadier Molina passed ball allows Gordon Beckham to advance to 2nd base, 1B Albert Pujols hits an RBI single to give the Cardinals a 1-0 lead in the top of the 1st.  John Lannan makes the lead hold by keeping the White Sox scoreless for 8 and 1/3 innings.

Game 2: Chicago 7- St. Louis 6 (Series tied at 1)

WP: Edward Mujica

LP: Kyle McClellan

SV: Joaquin Benoit

Key Play: After blowing a 6-2 lead and allowing the Cardinals to tie the score, White Sox 1B Yonder Alonso hits a solo home run in the bottom of the 7th inning to bring home the game winning run and tie the series for Chicago. 

Game 3: St. Louis 5 - Chicago 1 (St. Louis leads series 2-1)

WP: Brandon Webb

LP: Gavin Floyd

SV: Rafael Soriano

Key Play: In the bottom of the 2nd inning, Cardinals C Blake Murphy hits a 2-run single to give SP Brandon Webb all the offense he would need as the Cardinals take a 2-1 series advantage.

Game 4: Chicago 7 - St. Louis 2 (Series tied at 2)

WP: Ricky Nolasco

LP: John Lannan

Key Play: After the Cardinals score in the bottom of the 1st to take a 1-0 lead, the White Sox get consecutive hits by Cody Ross, Mark DeRosa, and Engel Beltre.  They also benefit from a throwing error by C Blake Murphy to take a 3-1 lead in the game and give SP Ricky Nolasco the support he needed as Nolasco shut down the Cardinal offense and evened the series.

Game 5: Chicago 5 - St. Louis 4 (12 innings) (Chicago leads series 3-2)

WP: Matt Thornton

LP: Jason Motte

Key Play:  With 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th, White Sox SS J.J. Hardy hits a clutch base hit to score the tying run and send the game into extra innings.  Later in the top of the 12th, RF Cody Ross knocks in the go ahead and winning run off the Cardinals' Jason Motte.

Thus far, the Chicago White Sox have used dominant starting pitching and continued their hot hitting to get to the World Series.  Ace SP Ricky Nolasco has gone 3-0 in the postseason with an ERA of only 2.31.  Nolasco has been backed up by former Cardinal Kyle Lohse, who has been about as dominant as Nolasco.  Overall in the playoffs, Lohse is 2-0 with a 2.25 ERA.  After the top two, the White Sox can pick from 18-game winner Gavin Floyd and 15-game winner Aaron Cook.  Cook has pitched twice in the playoffs, earning the White Sox only loss, while Floyd has pitched once, closing out the Cleveland Indians in the ALCS. 

Despite the starting pitching performing well, the strength of this White Sox team throughout the postseason has been the hitting.  American League Triple Crown winner 1B Yonder Alonso is showing why he was regarded as the best prospect in all of baseball with continued success in October.  Alonso leads the White Sox with a .441 batting average and also has 4 home runs through 8 games.  LF Carlos Quentin had a tough season battling injuries that caused him to only play in 73 regular season games.  However, Quentin got healthy with two weeks remaining in the season and has hit his stride in the playoffs batting .419 with 10 RBIs to date.  Overall, the White Sox lineup contains three players hitting .400+ and they need to remain hot to boost the rest of the offense which has been slow to get going.

The St. Louis Cardinals advanced to the World Series in thrilling fashion, by winning a Game 7 on the road against the New York Mets.  After defeating the National League's best, the Cardinals will look to ride that momentum into Chicago to face the best of the American League.  The Cardinals enter the World Series with the best player in baseball, 1B Albert Pujols, complemented by a couple of young superstars in the making in CF Colby Rasmus and 3B Brett Wallace.  Rasmus has been the better of the offensive players, while Wallace has struggled a bit so far in the postseason.  Despite not being pitched to much, Pujols still has cracked 3 home runs in the 11 games the Cardinals have played.  Over the course of the regular season, the Cardinals were able to boast having 5 20+ HR hitters in their lineup and that power will need to be present to combat the hot-swinging White Sox lineup.

While the offense will need to score some runs, the key to the Cardinals series will be how much their starting pitching can slow down the White Sox attack.  SP Brandon Webb has been a godsend since being acquired from Seattle, going 16-4 in his decisions since the trade, including 3-1 in the playoffs.  It was Webb that won game 7 in New York, so unfortunately, Webb may not be available until Game 3 of the World Series.  SP Adam Wainwright won 16 games for the Cardinals this season and looks to factor in on the series; however, Wainwright lost his last start against the New York Mets giving up 6 earned runs.  The most consistent pitcher for the Cardinals may be LH John Lannan who won 14 games in the regular season and outdueled Mets ace Johan Santana in game 4 of the National League Championship series.  If the starting pitching holds up, the Cardinals bullpen should be able to anchor down a few wins with NL saves leader Rafael Soriano, Jason Motte, and Kyle McClellan all capable of closing the door on any White Sox rally.