Until the World Series moves to Arlington, Texas, this weekend and he gets three starts either as an outfielder or a designated hitter, the Cardinals' Allen Craig will serve as the club's top pinch hitter.

But as manager Tony La Russa amply had displayed in the postseason, that doesn't necessarily mean late-inning pinch hitter.

In Sunday's clinching game of the National League championship series, La Russa ran up Craig, a .318 pinch batsman in the regular season, in the third inning with the Cardinals ahead, 7-4.

Craig bounced a 10-hop single up the middle for the two runs that, as it turned out, put the Cardinals irretrievably ahead of the Milwaukee Brewers.

On Wednesday night, in the first game of his first World Series, the call to Craig came in the sixth with the score tied 2-2.

After Yadier Molina fanned with David Freese at third and one out, the Texas Rangers seemed to pitch around eighth-place hitter Nick Punto, walking him for the second time ahead of starting pitcher Chris Carpenter, who had struck out twice already.

On this occasion though, Carpenter did not hit. La Russa instead sent up Craig, seven for 22 as a pinch hitter during the regular season when he wasn't out for two months with a broken right kneecap.

Texas manager Ron Washington countered with hard-throwing righthander Alexi Ogando, who got ahead of Craig at 1-2 before Craig sent a liner to right. Nelson Cruz tried to make a sliding catch but missed it, the ball glancing off his left foot. And Freese, running from third, scored the go-ahead run on Craig's hit as the Cardinals posted a 3-2 win in Game 1. "(La Russa) is pulling all the right strings," Craig said. "It's fun to watch. He's making the right moves and we're winning games. The guys on the bench have had to be ready a little earlier than usual during the regular season."

Craig had prepared himself for the at-bat the inning before by going back inside and hitting off a tee and getting his legs loose. This was a bit different than on Sunday when he still had his pullover on when La Russa summoned him in the third.

"I was kind of ambushed on that one," said Craig, smiling. Craig said he thought his drive on Wednesday was going to be a hit off the bat. But he said, "Cruz made an unbelievable effort getting there. I couldn't believe he got that close to it."

Ogando was throwing in the high 90s and Craig said, "I've been watching him on TV and he's blowing guys away. He throws fastballs by people and he did the same thing to me. I kind of had to make an adjustment. Keep it simple and not try to hit it so hard."

It was 49 degrees at game time and likely a bit colder when Craig hit. La Russa said, "Cold-weather game, sitting on the bench, World Series, Ogando ... it's not a very good situation. That's why we like him so much. (Craig) has got a history of taking great at-bats, especially with runners in scoring position, so he should have a really good career."

Craig is from southern California and not necessarily used to the cold at this time of the year. But he said, "It's the World Series. You can't worry about the cold."

As a rookie, Craig was just one for seven (.143) as a pinch hitter and he was three for 21 (also .143) when he didn't start.

"I wasn't successful off the bench, so I had to figure something out," Craig said. "I've felt I've done a lot better job this year coming off the bench. I've had a wide range of opportunities thrown at me."

Craig said he learned last year from such veteran pinch hitters as Aaron Miles and Randy Winn. And he also put into play techniques offered him by hitting coaches Mark McGwire and Mike Aldrete.

McGwire said, "Pinch hitting for a young kid who is used to playing on an everyday basis is a very, very tough thing to do. But when (Daniel) Descalso, Jon Jay and Allen Craig came back into spring training this year, there was a different calmness about them.

"They knew what to expect from Tony. They know how to be ready. Knowing the guy they're going to face and, not giving him a strike, by the way.

"I couldn't be happier for Allen. He's going to be a great major leaguer."

Aldrete, who had 253 pinch at-bats in his career, said one of the keys was elementary: Look for the fastball.

"Aggressive, in the (hitting zone), with the fastball," Aldrete said.

"It's not rocket science. When all of us get in trouble is when we get away from a good approach.

"It also doesn't hurt that he's really, really good."

Craig, surrounded by dozens of scribes, said, "I always pictured myself getting big hits.''

But he admitted, "It's definitely the biggest hit I've gotten in my career.

"I'm glad I could come through today and it was great. Tomorrow, you try to forget about it because you can't let the next opportunity pass you by while you're thinking about the last one."