2011 St. Louis Cardinals: Tremendous Heroics

2011 St. Louis Cardinals: Tremendous Heroics

Only 5 years removed from their last World Series championship, the St. Louis Cardinals had maintained their reputation for being one of the most tightly knit and well run organizations in the history of Major League Baseball, consistently competing in the postseason even though they didn’t reach the World Series since 2006. 2011 proved to be a year filled with tremendous heroics at the plate for St. Louis. The Cardinals went 90-72 in 2011, finishing 6 games behind the Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Central division, but they claimed the Wild Card. The Cardinals went 9-9 against the Brewers in head-to-head play. The Cardinals went 45-56 at home and on the road.

Catcher Yadier Molina batted .305 with 14 home runs, 145 hits and 32 doubles. Right fielder Lance Berkman batted .301 with 31 home runs and 94 RBI’s off 147 hits and 23 doubles. First baseman Albert Pujols was the end of his run in St. Louis, having been a Cardinal since 2001. Pujols made his last season in St. Louis count, batting .299 with 37 home runs and 99 RBI’s off 173 hits, 29 doubles and 9 stolen bases. Third baseman David Freese batted .297 with 10 home runs, 99 hits and 16 doubles. Center fielder Jon Jay batted .297 with 10 home runs, 135 hits, 24 doubles and 6 stolen bases.

Left fielder Matt Holliday batted .296 with 22 home runs and 75 RBI’s off 132 hits and 36 doubles. Second baseman Skip Schumaker batted .283 with 104 hits and 19 doubles. Shortstop Ryan Theriot batted .271 with 120 hits and 26 doubles. Outfielder and first baseman Allen Craig batted .315 with 11 home runs and 15 doubles in 75 games. Reserve center fielder Colby Rasmus had 11 home runs, 83 hits, 14 doubles and 6 triples in 94 games. Middle infielder Tyler Greene had 11 stolen bases in 58 games.

Starting pitcher Chris Carpenter went 11-9 with 191 strikeouts and a 3.45 ERA, recording 4 complete games and 2 shutouts. Jaime Garcia went 15-7 with 156 strikeouts and a 3.56 ERA, recording 2 complete games and 2 shutouts. Kyle Lohse went 14-8 with 111 strikeouts and a 3.39 ERA, recording 1 complete game and 1 shutout. Jake Westbrook went 12-9 with 104 strikeouts. Edwin Jackson went 5-2 with a 3.58 ERA.

Closer Fernando Salas had 24 saves and a 2.28 ERA. Relief pitcher Jason Motte went 5-2 with 9 saves and a 2.25 ERA. Mitchell Boggs had 4 saves and a 3.56 ERA. Kyle McLellan went 12-7 from the bullpen. Eduardo Sanchez went 3-1 with 5 saves and a 1.80 ERA.

The Cardinals were given a tough 5-game challenge from the Philadelphia Phillies in the National League Division Series. In Game 1 on October 1 at Citizens Bank Park, the Phillies beat the Cardinals 11-6. Lance Berkman clubbed a 3-run home run in the top of the 1st inning, but the Cardinals would be silenced in key parts of the game. In the bottom of the 4th left fielder Shane Victorino had an RBI single. In the bottom of the 6th first baseman Ryan Howard launched a 3-run home run, and right fielder Raul Ibanez followed by belting a 2-run home run. In the bottom of the 7th Howard had a sacrifice fly, and then Victorino and Ibanez had RBI singles. Right fielder Hunter Pence then topped off Philadelphia’s onslaught with a 2-run single.

In Game 2 on October 2 the Cardinals won 5-4. In the bottom of the 1st inning Howard had a 2-run single, and Ibanez followed with an RBI single. In the bottom of the 2nd Pence had an RBI single. In the top of the 4th Ryan Theriot had an RBI double, and then Jon Jay and shortstop Raphael Furcal had RBI singles. In the top of the 6th Jay had an RBI single, and in the top of the 7th Albert Pujols had an RBI single.

In Game 3 on October 4 at Busch Stadium III, the Phillies won 3-2. Philadelphia’s Cole Hamels pitched 6 innings and gave up 5 hits and 3 walks, but recorded 8 strikeouts. In the top of the 7th inning outfielder Ben Francisco belted a 3-run home run, and in the bottom of the 7th David Freese had an RBI single. Yadier Molina’s RBI single in the bottom of the 9th couldn’t keep the game going.

In Game 4 on October 5 the Cardinals won 5-3. In the top of the 1st inning second baseman Chase Utley had an RBI triple, and Pence followed with an RBI single. In the bottom of the 1st Berkman had an RBI double. Freese would have a 2-run double in the bottom of the 4th and smacked a 2-run home run in the bottom of the 6th.

In the deciding Game 5 on October 7 at Citizens Bank Park, the Cardinals blanked the Phillies 1-0 to advance. Chris Carpenter pitched a complete game and gave up only 3 hits while recording 3 strikeouts. The only offense St. Louis needed was an RBI double from Skip Schumaker in the top of the 1st inning.

The Cardinals then dealt with their division rivals the Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Championship Series. In Game 1 on October 9 at Miller Park, the Brewers beat the Cardinals 9-6. In the top of the 1st inning Holliday had an RBI single, and in the bottom of the 1st left fielder Ryan Braun slammed a 2-run home run. In the top of the 4th Freese crushed a 3-run home run, and in the top of the 5th Berkman had an RBI single. The Brewers broke out in the bottom of the 5th with a 2-run ground rule double by Braun, and 2-run home runs demolished by first baseman Prince Fielder and shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt. After Pujols grounded into a double play to score Furcal in the top of the 7th, catcher Jonathan Lucroy had an RBI single in the bottom of the 7th.

The Cardinals responded by pounding the Brewers 12-3 in Game 2 on October 10. In the top of the 1st inning Pujols smacked a 2-run home run, and Pujols then had a 2-run double in the top of the 3rd. In the top of the 4th second baseman Nick Punto had an RBI single. In the bottom of the 4th second baseman Rickie Weeks smacked a 2-run home run. In the top of the 5th Pujols had an RBI double, and he would then later score on a wild pitch. In the top of the 7th Holliday, Molina, Freese and Nick Punto all had RBI singles.

In Game 3 on October 12 at Busch Stadium III, the Cardinals won 4-3. In the top of the 1st inning Jay had an RBI double, Pujols had an RBI ground rule double, Molina grounded into a double play to score Pujols, and then Freese had an RBI double. In the top of the 2nd Betancourt had an RBI single, and then pitcher Yovani Gallardo had a sacrifice fly. In the top of the 3rd center fielder Mark Kotsay hit a solo home run.

In Game 4 on October 13 the Brewers won 4-2. Holliday hit a solo home run in the bottom of the 2nd inning, and then Allen Craig hit a solo home run in the bottom of the 3rd, but then Milwaukee took control of the game. Third baseman Jerry Hairston had an RBI double, and Betancourt followed with an RBI single. Braun had an RBI single in the top of the 5th, and catcher George Kottaras reached on an error to score Weeks in the top of the 6th.

In Game 5 on October 14 the Cardinals won 7-1. Jaime Garcia pitched 4.2 innings and gave up 7 hits and 1 run, but recorded 5 strikeouts. In the bottom of the 2nd inning Molina had an RBI double, and then Garcia reached on an error to score both Freese and Molina. In the bottom of the 4th Garcia had an RBI groundout. In the top of the 5th right fielder Corey Hart had an RBI single. In the bottom of the 6th Pujols had an RBI single, and then in the bottom of the 8th Holliday had a 2-run double.

Returning to Miller Park for Game 6 on October 16, the Cardinals beat the Brewers 12-6 to win the National League pennant. Berkman had an RBI single in the top of the 1st inning, and Freese followed by launching a 3-run home run. Pujols then hit a solo home run in the top of the 3rd, Punto followed with a sacrifice fly, and Craig then had a 2-run single. In the top of the 5th Molina scored another run by grounding into a fielder’s choice, and then pinch hitting outfielder Adron Chambers had a sacrifice fly.

The 2011 World Series between the St. Louis Cardinals and the American League Champion Texas Rangers turned out to be a classic 7-game event as both teams came prepared for the bright lights of the Fall Classic. The Rangers had returned to the World Series after falling short to the San Francisco Giants in the 2010 World Series.

In Game 1 on October 19 at Busch Stadium III, the Cardinals won 3-2. Berkman had a 2-run single in the bottom of the 4th, and after catcher Mike Napoli belted a 2-run home run in the top of the 5th, Craig had an RBI single in the bottom of the 6th.

The Rangers came back to beat the Cardinals 2-1 in Game 2 on October 20. Colby Lewis pitched a great game for Texas, going 6.2 innings and giving up 4 hits, 2 walks and 1 run while recording 4 strikeouts. In the bottom of the 7th Craig had an RBI single, but Texas took the game in the top of the 9th with a pair of sacrifice flies from left fielder Josh Hamilton and first baseman Michael Young.

At Rangers Ballpark in Arlington in Game 3 on October 22, the Cardinals outslugged the Rangers 16-7. The main highlights of the game resided in the middle innings. In the top of the 4th Freese had an RBI double, Jay reached on an error to score Berkman and Freese, and then Theriot had an RBI single. In the bottom of the 4th Young hit a solo home run, and right fielder Nelson Cruz smacked a 2-run home run. In the top of the 5th Freese had an RBI groundout, and Molina followed with a 2-run double. In the bottom of the 5th Young had an RBI double, third baseman Adrian Beltre had an RBI single, and Napoli had a sacrifice fly. In the top of the 6th Pujols crushed a 3-run home run, and then Molina had a sacrifice fly.

The Rangers blanked the Cardinals 4-0 in Game 4 on October 23, and then the Rangers would beat the Cardinals 4-2 in Game 5 on October 24. In the top of the 2nd inning Molina had an RBI single, and Schumaker had an RBI groundout. In the bottom of the 3rd first baseman Mitch Moreland hit a solo home run, Beltre hit a solo home run in the bottom of the 6th, and then Napoli had a 2-run double in the bottom of the 8th.

Returning to Busch Stadium III for Game 6 on October 27, the Cardinals won an absolutely thrilling game by the score of 10-9. In the top of the 1st inning Hamilton had an RBI single, and in the bottom of the 1st Berkman belted a 2-run home run. In the top of the 2nd second baseman Ian Kinsler had an RBI ground rule double, and in the top of the 4th Napoli had an RBI single. In the bottom of the 4th Molina had an RBI groundout. After Young’s RBI double in the top of the 5th, Molina drew a bases loaded walk in the bottom of the 6th to score Berkman.

In the top of the 7th Beltre and Ctuz both hit solo home runs, and then Kinsler followed with an RBI single. In the bottom of the 8th Craig hit a solo home run, and then Freese came through with a 2-run triple in the bottom of the 9th to tie the game. In the top of the 10th Hamilton smacked a 2-run home run, but then St. Louis responded again. In the bottom of the 10th Theriot had an RBI groundout, and then Berkman had an RBI single. Finally, pulling through with tremendous heroics, David Freese hit a walk-off solo home run in the bottom of the 11th to force a Game 7.

In Game 7 on October 28 the Cardinals won 6-2 to claim their 11th World Series championship in franchise history. Hamilton and Young both had RBI doubles in the top of the 1st inning, but that would be all for Texas. In the bottom of the 1st Freese had a 2-run double, and in the bottom of the 3rd Craig hit a solo home run. In the bottom of the 5th Molina drew a bases loaded walk to score Craig, and then Furcal would get hit by a pitch to score Pujols. Molina then had an RBI single in the bottom of the 7th.

David Freese would be named the Most Valuable Player for both the NLCS and the 2011 World Series as he clearly stood out as the most dependable bat in the St. Louis lineup in the postseason.