A reason the Cardinals coveted, pursued and ultimately enriched outfielder Matt Holliday in the past year happened in the sixth inning Sunday.
So, too, did a reason he wouldn't yield to early-season angst.
Holliday followed an intentional walk to Albert Pujols with a three-run homer that erased a deficit and powered the Cardinals to a 4-2 win against Cincinnati at Busch Stadium. The jolt gave the Cardinals a needed series victory against the first-place Reds and typified what Holliday was hired to do and couldn't seem to do enough at the start of this summer. Holliday took a .221 average with runners in scoring position into the break, a number that did not bother him because he knew it would improve.
"You'd drive yourself nuts, if you hang on to that stuff," Holliday said. "If it's 'what have you done for me two seconds ago' every game, then the sanity part of this game will drive you up the wall. You would be unstable mentally. You'd be riding the highs and the lows. I've learned that the more consistent you stayed mentally (and) you put in the work, that really is all you can do."
The work Holliday has done recently belies the prolonged offensive struggles the Cardinals have had. The All-Star left fielder hit .308 on the recent road trip and contributed 12 of the 38 runs the team scored. In the past week, he has scored three runs, and two of them came on home runs he hit. He's also batting .394 in his past 33 at-bats with runners in scoring position.
"Matt is real protection," manager Tony La Russa said.
That is, after all, why the Cardinals wanted him — to play enforcer behind Albert Pujols. And in the sixth inning, Reds manager Dusty Baker gave him that opportunity. Despite Pujols having one hit in his previous 23 at-bats, Baker walked the three-time MVP with first base open, a runner at second and two outs. Down 2-1, Pujols represented the Cardinals' potential go-ahead run.
Reds pitcher Homer Bailey got ahead 1-2 in the count and, in Baker's words, had Holliday "eating out of his hands." Holliday held up his swing before taking a last-second hack to foul off a looping, 78-mph curveball. He fouled off one more pitch, and then got a 1-2 fastball from Bailey. Holliday lined it into the seats just left of dead center for a three-run shot, his 25th homer of the season.
Said Pujols: "Was I surprised (by the walk) because of the way I'm swinging the bat? Of course. But to have Matt come through — I'll take my walk and give him the opportunity because I know five out of 10 times he's going to come through and maybe do something big."
Nineteen times this season Holliday has hit after an intentional walk to Pujols. Five times he got a base hit. Twice it has been "big" with a homer. And he has 11 RBIs in those situations.
Holliday began the season searching for such success with runners in scoring position. He had one extra-base hit and a .129 average in his first 31 at-bats with runners on second or third base or both. In the season's first half, he had only five extra-base hits with runners in scoring position, and he answered questions about those situations with assurances his numbers would balance by season's end.
Holliday's homer Sunday gives him one more than he had all of last season, and his overall average with runners in scoring position is up to .333 since the All-Star break. He and Pujols have been the tag-team thrust of the Cardinals' offense since early July, and as the Cardinals struggled through August they were the only constant sources of production. Many rallies fizzle like the one in the fifth inning Sunday with Holliday ripping a leadoff double and then moving only 90 feet as three teammates make three successive outs.
Things have changed.
Recently, Holliday has been left in scoring position.
Something he avoided with one swing.
"Sometimes we haven't had a whole lot of opportunities with runners on base," Holliday said. "I think sometimes you feel that when you do get a chance that you really want to come through for the team. That can lead to extra pressure instead of trying to focus on getting a good pitch to hit a line drive. If the results are good, great. If not, the you have a good approach and you have (to learn) to stick with it. ... Whether if (the numbers are) what everybody wants them to be, you can't answer to that.
"You answer to your teammates."
