Cardinals Notes

Allen Craig hit .240 when he had a full-count on him with 22 walks and 22 strikeouts, but that only tells part of the story. Against righties, Craig hit .152 with 19 walks and 15 strikeouts but against lefties he hit .412 with three walks and seven strikeouts.

David Freese put 72 first pitches into play this season and hit .389. including five homers. He's less likely to swing on the first pitch against lefties swinging on 144 first pitches but he was successful going 11-for-20 (.550). Against righties, he swung at 450 first pitches going 17-for-52 (.327) with four homers.

During the regular season, Yadier Molina hit .154 against the Giants starters but in four at bats against the bullpen he had one walk, one double, and one homer with both extra-base hits against Sergio Romo.

Daniel Descalso hit .227 on the season, but he loves htting against the curveball hitting .324. From the 7th inning on (including extra-innings), Descalso in the regular season hit .218 wth two homers which made his homer and 2-6 in those innings against the Nationals even more unusual.

Kyle Lohse has seen a big improvement in his slider over the last three seasons. In 2010, Lohse threw 458 fastballs and 450 sinkers. Batters hit .385 against the fastball and .309 against the sinker. He also threw 293 sliders and batters hit .361. In 2011, Lohse threw 101 fastballs and 1538 sinkers. Batters hit .227 against the fastball and .289 against the sinker. He also threw 460 sliders and batters hit .254. In 2012, Lohse threw 319 fastballs and 1331 sinkers. Batters hit .222 against the fastball and .256 against the sinker. But in 2011 he threw 732 sliders holding batters to a .198 avg.

No batter in baseball hit the Cardinals staff as well as Buster Posey who hit .476 (10-21). Angel Pagan swung at 43 pitches against the Cards, the most on the Giants; he missed only two pitches.