ST. LOUIS -- Standing in the on-deck circle in the seventh inning, Paul DeJong watched Paul Goldschmidt beat out an infield single to Pirates pitcher Kyle Crick and load the bases with two outs.
The Cardinals shortstop took a deep breath before stepping up to the plate. This was a situation he practiced during the offseason, spring and summer, and here it was in a regular-season game for the first time in 2020. DeJong took a ball from Crick before lining a slider into left field, scoring two and helping unleash the Cardinals’ offense in its 9-1 win Saturday afternoon at Busch Stadium.
The offense backed starter Adam Wainwright, who pitched his way out of a bases-loaded jam in the second inning after walking in a run. Wainwright allowed three hits on one run in six innings to win his 163rd career game, tying Bob Forsch for third all-time in franchise history and trailing only Bob Gibson (251) and Jesse Haines (210).
One of the necessary agents of change if the Cardinals are going to improve their offense this year, DeJong focused on situational hitting over the winter and again during the shutdown. He wanted and needed to improve his .193 average with runners in scoring position from last year, especially if he was going to take over the cleanup spot. He tightened his swing and took advice from the Cardinals’ previous cleanup hitter, Marcell Ozuna: Take time to relax before stepping to the plate.
“It’s more just kind of a relaxing breath to calm down my anxiety and my wanting to get the job done,” DeJong said. “And I think being able to calm yourself in those situations allows the best me to come out. It’s just about affirming to myself that I have what it takes to get the job done and not putting too much pressure on myself and being calm and collected in those situations.”
Designated hitter Matt Carpenter hit a two-run double to the center-field wall right after DeJong in the seventh, capping a four-run inning. Goldschmidt got the Cardinals started with a solo homer that dinged off the Big Mac Land sign in the first off Pirates starter Trevor Williams, and RBI singles from Dexter Fowler and Tyler O’Neill in the fourth inning gave the Cards a lead they wouldn’t relinquish. Tommy Edman’s two-run triple added insurance in the eighth.
The noticeable pattern of the Cardinals’ scoring was the depth of the lineup: Goldschmidt, DeJong and Carpenter in the middle; O’Neill and Fowler at the bottom; and Edman at the top. The identity that’s crystallized for the Cardinals since halfway through Summer Camp is a lineup that’s able to be turned over effectively. Good at-bats have been the theme.
“It’s a long lineup. It’s a deep lineup,” manager Mike Shildt said. “I love the quality at-bats, looking to execute the approach based on the situation. One through nine, guys are taking good, quality at-bats, and that allows you to turn it over and allows you to put up multiple runs.”
All winter long, the Cardinals touted internal improvement to fix their offensive problems from 2019. They were confident their veteran bats would return to form and the outfield would increase production. They minted a new leadoff hitter in Kolten Wong and a new cleanup hitter in DeJong. DeJong said getting to the National League Championship Series in ‘19 was a harbinger of how good the Cardinals could be -- and what they needed to improve to get there.
“We talked about last year being an elite defense, and then we did it,” DeJong said. “And then this year we talked about being an elite offense, and thus far, we’re really showing top to bottom, having good at-bats, not chasing, putting the ball in play, running hard, hitting for power. All these things add up as a group. We’re really trying to win at every facet of the game, and our offense is something that's more intentional this year.”
Part of the intentionality is having a plan through the lineup on the approach that day, which the hitters talk about during their pregame “Ball Talk” meeting. Constant communication throughout the game helps, too, and so does working pitchers the way they did Williams, who threw 67 pitches in 3 2/3 innings Saturday.
“Goldy will sometimes tell me, ‘Hey, I’m going to get ready to swing first pitch here,’ and to me that just tells me go ahead, give him that freedom, then it’s my job to work that at-bat and slow the game down,” DeJong said. “I think, top to bottom, [we] just fit into a groove here of what we’re capable of. Just being a tough out top to bottom I think has been great for us thus far.”