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Cards win first World Series game

The World Series is underway, and though the best-of-seven series is expected by many to last six or seven games, matching two even teams, the St. Louis Cardinals made a big first step. The National League champions beat the Detroit Tigers 7-2 the opening game in Detroit, taking a 1-0 lead. The second game is scheduled for Sunday night, in Detroit as well.

Both teams started rookie pitchers. The Cards` Anthony Reyes, 25, dominated the game, retiring 17 straight batters for a stretch during his 8 1/3 innings. Reyes gave up just four hits and two runs for the win, throwing only 90 pitches. The Tigers` Justin Verlander, a Rookie of the Year frontrunner himself took the loss, giving up seven runs in five innings.

Perhaps a critical mistake came in the third inning, when Verlander and the Tigers decided to pitch to slugger Albert Pujols with two outs, a man on second and first base open. The first picth was slammed far into the right-field bleachers for a two-run homer and a 4-1 St Louis lead. "The manager`s decision is to either pitch to him or walk him, and obviously he burned us," Detroit skipper Jim Leyland said about Pujols. "I take the bullet there. It`s my decision. I`ll leave it at that. I`ll take the heat for that."