The St Louis Cardinals won the World Series by beating the Detroit Tigers 4-2 on Friday to claim the best-of-seven championship 4-1.
The victory gave the Cardinals their first World Series crown in 24 years and 10th overall championship, helping erase the disappointment of Fall Classic losses in 1985, 1987 and 2004.
Closer Adam Wainwright struck out Brandon Inge on three pitches with the red-jacketed crowd of 46,638 roaring and waving their white towels to set off a pile-up in the middle of the Busch Stadium diamond as fireworks lit up the sky.
St Louis shortstop David Eckstein was named Most Valuable Player of the Series.
The Cardinals took advantage of Detroit's poor fielding to score a pair of unearned runs in the fourth inning and grab a 3-2 lead. A run-scoring single by Scott Rolen in the seventh off reliever Fernando Rodney provided the insurance run.
St Louis starter Jeff Weaver pitched eight brilliant innings, giving up two runs, only one earned, on four hits while striking out nine.
Rookie right-hander Justin Verlander, who committed the fifth error of the Series by a Tigers pitcher, was the loser.
The victory capped off a great postseason surge for the Cardinals, who were hit by injuries to key players and struggled to the finish line of the regular season.
Their 83 regular season wins were the fewest registered by a World Series champion, but with the return to health of Jim Edmonds, Scott Rolen and Eckstein they came together in the postseason to register playoff wins against the San Diego Padres and New York Mets before defeating Detroit.
Victory also made St Louis manager Tony La Russa the second manager to win World Series with teams from both leagues.
La Russa, who won the 1989 World Series with the American League Oakland Athletics, joins Sparky Anderson, who led the Cincinnati Reds to Series titles in 1975 and 1976, and with Detroit in 1984.
