Ron Washington tells Rangers to turn the page

(CBS) - The Texas Rangers were one strike away from winning the World Series last night - twice! No team has ever come that close to a title (twice!) and failed to win. After that extra-inning Game 6 heartbreaker, how can the Rangers possibly come back and beat St. Louis in Game 7? That's were manager Ron Washington comes in. The job of manager is never harder than after a backbreaking loss like this. Washington's message to his team after the game was simple: turn the page, get ready for the next game.

"The World Series is seven games," Washington said. "We've got to play seven games."

When asked after the game what he told his players, Washington told reporters, "I just wanted them to understand what's at stake. And what's still at stake."

For a franchise that has never won a World Series title, one would imagine the players to be devastated after their Game 6 loss. But players after the game seemed to have taken Washington's words to heart.

"Mentally, I'm already ready for tomorrow," left fielder Josh Hamilton told reporters. "Don't we have to play tomorrow?"

Hamilton was almost the hero last night. His 2-run 10th inning home run gave the Rangers the lead (again) only to have it taken away by Cardinal Lance Berkman. Berkman had two strikes, and the Rangers were already getting ready to pop the champagne, when he tied the game with an RBI single.

"We were like, 'This is a classic.'" Hamilton said. "We're not as stressed out as you all think we are."

So perhaps the Rangers are taking heart in the fact that, even though they lost, the game is already being called one of the greatest ever. And they know that the Series isn't done yet.

"It's not easy to win a World Series," Washington said. "We found that out. But it's not like we weren't capable of winning it. We just didn't tonight."