Derek Holland pitched a helluva game to even the series at 2 apiece. Holland dominated for 8.1 innings. He surrendered only 4 base runners and 2 hits. He mixed a 96 MPH fastball with a nasty curveball that had Cardinal hitters guessing.

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I am a bit surprised that Texas manager Ron Washington elected to have Holland pitch game 4. He was 16-5 with a 3.95 ERA during the season. His 4 shutouts were tied for a major league lead. He finished the year 10-1. However, Holland is likely unavailable for the rest of the World Series. He would have to pitch on three days’ rest if slotted for Game 7 Thursday in St. Louis.

Moving on…

Home plate umpire Ron Kulpa was garbage for the second night in a row. His costly blown call at first base in game 3 carried over to his strike zone in game 4. He was constantly moving to get positioned over the catchers left shoulder. His strike zone was a joke.

Looking forward…

Game 5 will be a pitching rematch of game 1. LHP C.J. Wilson versus Chris Carpenter. Both had OK starts last Wednesday with Carpenter getting the win after Allen Craig delivered a 2 out pinch-hit RBI in the 6th inning.

I will pick St. Louis because Chris Carpenter is just too good to go against. Game 5 will be a huge momentum swing for either team heading back to St. Louis.