The NLCS returned to St. Louis for Game 6 with the Cardinals fighting to stay alive and force a Game 7 while Houston sought to close out the series early. Rather than homering as he did in the first inning of both of the first two Busch Stadium games, Carlos Beltran walked in the first inning of Game 6. On the second pitch of Jeff Bagwell's at-bat, Beltran stole second, enabling him to advance to third when Bagwell hit a line drive single into shallow left field. Lance Berkman hit a sac fly into the left field corner to drive him in, putting the Astros on the board first.

Tony Womack smacked a line drive through the infield into right to lead off the bottom of the first with a single. Larry Walker grounded out to third to advance Womack to second, though with Albert Pujols knocking one into the Astros bullpen in left center, Womack could have scored just as easily from first. Later in the inning, Jim Edmonds and Edgar Renteria both singled, but St. Louis failed to drive in either one.

With the Cardinals leading 2-1, Houston got caught in a strike 'em out, throw 'em out double play to end the top of the second. In the top of the third, Beltran hit a flyball off the right field wall, which Walker fielded flawlessly to limit him to a single. Bagwell then shot a groundball down the left field line. Past third base where the stands jut out closer to the foul line, the ball hit off the wall, careening into the middle of left field as Reggie Sanders' momentum carried him toward the line. The was a double for Bagwell and drove in Beltran to tie the game at 2.

Pujols sent a ball soaring into deep right center to lead off the bottom of the third with a double. Scott Rolen followed with a groundball single to short. Bagwell leapt into the air to prevent Jose Vizcaino's throw to first from flying past him. Jim Edmonds then hit a sac fly into left to advance the runners to second and third. Both Pujols and Rolen scored when Renteria slapped a groundball into left center for a single, giving St. Louis a 4-2 lead. At that point, the Astros pulled starter Pete Munro. New reliever Chad Harville gave up a double to Reggie Sanders, which moved Renteria to third. However, Harville struck out Mike Matheny and Matt Morris to get Houston out of the jam.

Hector Luna replaced Womack at second base prior to the fourth, because lower back spasms forced Womack to leave the game. Mike Lamb led off the fourth with a line drive that bounced off one of the signs behind the right field fence for a home run, bringing the Astros back within one run of the Cardinals. Adam Everett pinch-hit for Harville in the top of the inning, so Chad Qualls took the mound for Houston in the bottom of the fourth. Two outs into the inning, Pujols hit a groundball into left field for a single. Rolen then hit a groundball down the left field line, where it ricocheted like Bagwell's. However, Vizcaino recovered the ball in time to make a throw to the plate. The throw went wide left of the plate, but Ausmus made the grab and then lunged over to tag Pujols, who had run through the stop sign at third.

Leading off the bottom of the fifth, Jim Edmonds fouled off a pitch. Lamb pursued the foul to the edge of the Astros' dugout, but although only the hands of his teammates prevented him from toppling over as he straddled the railing, his efforts did not lead to a catch. Edmonds went on to ground out. After Renteria struck out, Sanders hit a flyball into deep center for a double, prompting Houston to intentionally walk Matheny. Pinch-hitting for Matt Morris, John Mabry struck out to end the inning with the runners stranded at first and second.

Ray King took the mound for St. Louis in the top of the sixth and allowed a lead off single to Jeff Kent. While Lamb grounded into a double play, the Cardinals pulled King and put in Kiko Calero after Vizcaino singled. Ausmus grounded out to end the inning.

The Astros did not allow Qualls' perfect sixth to tempt them into sending him out for a fourth inning, so Dan Wheeler took the mound for Houston in the seventh. Leading off the inning, Rolen smacked a line drive to the left side of the infield, where Lamb made a diving catch to save Wheeler from giving up a lead off hit. Later in the inning, Renteria and Sanders put together back-to-back singles, but St. Louis could not push either across the plate.

The Cardinals turned to closer Jason Isringhausen for the eighth, hoping for a two inning save. Isringhausen allowed Kent to double but held St. Louis' lead through the eighth. Wheeler was perfect in the bottom of the inning not allowing the Cardinals to cushion their lead. In the ninth, Isringhausen plunked pinch-hitter Morgan Ensberg in the stomach as he led off the inning in place of Brad Ausmus. Pinch-hitting for Wheeler, Eric Bruntlett laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance Ensberg to second. After retiring Biggio, Isringhausen intentionally walked Beltran only to have Bagwell drive his next pitch into left for a single. Ensberg scored, tying the game at 4. During Berkman's at-bat, Beltran and Bagwell pulled off a double steal, but Berkman struck out, leaving them stranded.

Replacing Wheeler, Brad Lidge pitched a perfect ninth, insuring that the game continued into extra innings. We thought the Astros would be able to wrap up the series when Isringhausen returned to the mound in the tenth, but he pulled off a one-two-three inning. Lidge countered with another perfect inning of his own. Despite suffering a spiral fracture to the fifth metacarpal of his left hand and breaking the ring finger of that same hand in three places during his Game 4 tirade, Julian Tavarez took the mound for St. Louis for the 11th and pitched a perfect inning. Brad Lidge then cruised through a third inning of no baserunners.

Given Tavarez's trouble with his glove hand, Houston logically should have been trying to run up his pitch count, forcing him to endure the pain of having Matheny throw the ball back to him. He threw only ten pitches in the eleventh and returned to the mound for the twelfth. Both Beltran and Bagwell hit into outs on the first pitch of their at-bats. Pinch-hitting for Lidge, Brandon Backe at least managed to make Tavarez throw eight pitches before striking out.

Dan Miceli took Lidge's place on the mound in the bottom of the twelfth, walking leadoff hitter Pujols on four pitches. Rolen then popped out, but Jim Edmonds catapulted a pitch into the Cardinals bullpen to win the game for St. Louis by a score of 6-4.

After beginning to warm-up his bat in Game 6, Johnny Damon led off Game 7 with groundball single into left field. During Mark Bellhorn's at-bat, Damon stole second. Bellhorn struck out, but Manny Ramirez drove a groundball through the infield and into left center. Damon took off, turning to see where the ball was halfway down the third base line. Meanwhile, Hideki Matsui recovered the ball and threw toward home with Derek Jeter cutting off the throw and firing to the plate to get Damon. The play could have been a real downer for the Red Sox, however David Ortiz shot his first pitch from Kevin Brown over the right field wall to put Boston up 2-0.

Backed by a two-run lead, Derek Lowe pitched a perfect first. In the top of the second, Kevin Millar singled on a line drive into shallow centerfield. Brown then walked both Bill Mueller and Orlando Cabrera to load the bases, prompting New York to replace Brown with Javier Vazquez. Damon sent Vazquez's first pitch down the right field line and over the wall for a grand slam. Vazquez completed the inning without allowing any further scoring, but Lowe entered the second with a six run cushion.

In the bottom of the third, Miguel Cairo took first base after a pitch just barely grazed his right shoulder if it hit him at all. During Jeter's at-bat, Cairo stole second, putting him in position to score when Jeter rapped a groundball single into left field. However, Jeter remained stranded when the inning ended, so no momentum switch accompanied the Yankees' first run.

Cabrera led off the fourth with a walk, so when Damon let loose a monster shot into the upper deck in right field, Lowe got back the run he'd lost as well as one more for luck. Bellhorn followed with a walk, and although Ramirez popped out, New York lifted Vazquez after he walked Ortiz. New reliever Esteban Loaiza allowed Varitek to load the bases with a single but retired Trot Nixon and Millar to get out of the jam without allowing the Red Sox to increase their 8-1 lead.

Mueller led off the top of the fifth with a groundball single into right and advanced to second on a Cabrera groundout. Damon then hit a bouncer to the mound. After acquiring the ball, Loaiza ran towards Mueller, who was caught between second and third. As Mueller ran back to second, Loaiza threw to the bag with the low throw hitting off the sliding foot of Mueller and rolling into shallow right. Mueller got up and advanced to third while Damon took second. However, Loaiza compensated for his error by retiring Bellhorn and Ramirez to leave the runners stranded at second and third.

One out into the seventh, Loaiza gave up back-to-back singles to Mueller and Cabrera, which led the Yankees to bring Felix Heredia in to face Damon. Damon grounded into a double play to end the inning.

Although Lowe had been perfect since giving up Jeter's RBI single in the third, Manager Terry Francona sent Pedro Martinez out to pitch the bottom of the seventh when Martinez theoretically should have been resting for a Game 1 start in the World Series. Matsui led off the inning with a line drive down the right field line for a double. The Yankee Stadium crowd, which had been quite during most of the game, woke up with a vengeance. Bernie Williams hit a flyball into deep center for a double, scoring Matsui. Posada then grounded out, moving Williams to third. Williams subsequently scored when Kenny Lofton hit a line drive up the middle for a single. Lofton stole second during John Olerud's at-bat, and while Martinez struck out Olerud and retired Cairo to end the inning, the momentum switch alone made the pitching change look like a disaster for Boston.

Bellhorn addressed that problem by launching a high flyball down the right field line where it clamored against the fence extending back from the foul pole in the upper deck for a lead off home run off of new reliever Tom Gordon. While Gordon recovered to retire the Red Sox's next three batters, the crowd was silenced effectively. Mike Timlin relieved Martinez prior to the bottom of the eighth and pitched a perfect inning.

Nixon and Doug Mientkiewicz opened the ninth with back-to-back singles. Mueller then hit a catchable fly into center, advancing Nixon to third, so he was able to score when Cabrera hit a sac fly into center. At that point, New York called for Mariano Rivera to close out the inning, but the Yankees still had to face a 10-3 deficit in the bottom of the ninth.

Matsui led off the inning with a line drive down the right field line for a single but was erased from the bases as Boston chose to take out the lead runner when Williams hit into a fielder's choice. Posada popped out, and the Red Sox indifferently allowed Williams to take second during Lofton's at-bat. However, after Timlin issued a four-pitch walk to Lofton, Boston sent Alan Embree to finish off the final out. New York countered by pinch-hitting for Olerud with Ruben Sierra, but Sierra grounded out to complete the biggest collapse in MLB post-season history. With their 10-3 victory, the Red Sox won the series and the American League Pennant while making history with their incredible comeback.

Following Boston's victory, David Ortiz was presented with the ALCS MVP. Ortiz hit .387 with a .457 OBP and .742 SLG on 12 H, 1 3B, and 3 HR with a 4:7 BB:K and 0/1 SB% over 31 ALCS AB, racking up 11 RBI and 6 R.

Houston and St. Louis will meet today to determine who the Red Sox will play when the World Series begins on the 23rd.