Albert Pujols is still coming to terms with what St Louis achieved over Texas (Cardinals 4/6, Rangers 5/4 in the match betting for game 7) on Thursday night to set up a deciding game seven and the Cardinals first baseman believes that a World Series victory will now be even ‘sweeter’.

The Cardinals had stood on the brink of elimination, having twice been one strike away from losing game six, but became the first team in World Series history to recover from a ninth-inning deficit and an extra-inning deficit in the same game to force a decider.

St Louis also set a new benchmark by becoming the first club to score runs in the eighth, ninth, 10th and 11th innings of the same World Series game – and by contrast the Rangers the first team to choke three saves.

David Freese ultimately proved to be the hero for the Cards on Thursday as he smashed an RBI double with his side trailing by two runs at the bottom of the ninth to send the match into extra innings and the 28-year-old then hit an 11th-inning leadoff, walk-off home run to seal a memorable 10-9 win.

“This is pretty special,” Pujols said. “This is what baseball is all about.

“I think this is something the fans, not just in St. Louis, but fans all over the country, they’re going to remember this game.

“Our main goal is hopefully we can try and finish this off [on Friday]. I think it’s going to be sweeter.”

Game Seven takes place at Busch Field on Friday night with the Cardinals expected to start with Chris Carpenter, who has already pitched twice in the series, against Rangers’ Matt Harrison (Under  Total Match Runs 5/6, Over 8 Evens).