ST. LOUIS -- It was just one inning.

Just one inning of a classic October baseball game.

But just one inning is all it takes sometimes to change everything -- to rewrite all the storylines, to turn heartbreak into triumph, to take an entire World Series and turn it upside down.

So that's all this was -- just one inning. But after the stunning, historic turn of events in the ninth inning Thursday night at Busch Stadium, this World Series may never be quite the same.

For eight innings, this was an unforgettable 1-0 game for the history books. But then

A bloop single fell to earth. Two daring baserunning plays set up an epic comeback. The great Albert Pujols let a baseball skip past his glove. And you could almost feel the baseball earth shift in the blink of an eye.

Two humongous runs would score. The Texas Rangers would find a way to win this game, 2-1, and tie this World Series, a game apiece. And instead of tumbling into a 2-games-to-nada canyon that no team has climbed out of during the past three decades, the American League champions found themselves floating euphorically toward a plane ride home to Texas, trying to make sense of what had just happened.

It was only one inning. But it was an inning of baseball that shredded all the scripts we thought were unfolding in this fascinating 2011 World Series.

"That," said outfielder David Murphy, "was huge -- huge that we pulled this out. Going down, 2-0, in a series -- obviously, if you're that team that's down, 2-0, you don't want to look at statistics from the past. But I think the past will tell you that most teams that get out to that 2-0 lead will win the series.

"So that," Murphy would say one more time, "was huge -- not only to win this game but to shift the momentum in our favor."

OK, now that it's safe to look at those dreaded statistics from the past, we can tell David Murphy exactly how bleak the Rangers' picture would have appeared if that ninth inning hadn't turned out the way it did:

No team has lost the first two games of any World Series on the road and come back to win the Series since Fernando Valenzuela's 1981 Dodgers. No team has lost the first two games of a World Series anyplace and come back to win it since Jim Leyritz's 1996 Yankees. And the past eight teams in a row that fell behind, 2-to-zippo, in the World Series have had their seasons end with somebody else spraying the champagne.

The Rangers celebrated a Game 2 victory that appeared remote entering the ninth inning. Jeff Curry/US Presswire

So that's what was on the line here as the bullpen door burst open in the ninth inning Thursday night, and the man Tony La Russa refuses to call "The Closer," Jason Motte, began jogging toward the mound.

They've been playing these World Series games since 1903 now -- 618 of them to be exact, heading into this night. And in all that time, in all those games, only two teams had ever gone into the ninth inning on the wrong end of a 1-0 score and roared back to win.

One of those teams was the 1985 Royals, who were three outs from losing the World Series to Joaquin Andujar's Cardinals until first-base ump Don Denkinger flashed that fateful "safe" sign.

The other was Home Run Baker's 1911 Philadelphia A's, who staged a shocking ninth-inning comeback against the legendary Christy Mathewson and went on to win in extra innings.

And that's it.

Until Jason Motte finished his warmup tosses, Ian Kinsler wriggled into the batter's box and a remarkable inning of October baseball began to unfold.

Kinsler may not be your classic leadoff man in many respects. He hit just .251, with a .336 on-base percentage, leading off innings in the regular season. And he batted only .146, with a .226 on-base percentage, in the ninth inning. But he did lead his team in pitches per plate appearance (3.94). And he's still a guy who inspires incredible trust from his teammates, especially in situations like this one.

"We feel great about him being up there," said Michael Young, "because we know he's going to throw up a good at-bat."

And that's exactly what Kinsler gave them. He worked the count to 2-2, dunked a blooper into the Bermuda Triangle in short left-center and charged around first base, clapping his hands with the fury of a man who had the feeling he'd just kicked off something special.