Cardinals vs. Giants: Biggest X-Factors for Each Team in Game 7

The St. Louis Cardinals and San Francisco Giants will square off in a decisive Game 7 of the NLCS on Monday night

For the Cardinals, they have a chance to make their second World Series appearance in two years. For the Giants, they have the chance to make history as one of only two teams to ever win six consecutive elimination games.

Needless to say, it's a big night.

Big nights tend to lead to big performances. While this postseason has been filled with plenty of heroics, the NLCS has been won by dominating performances, not theatrics.

That's because these two teams have been leaning on their X-factors, a part of each team's makeup that either leads them to victory or drags them down in defeat.

Here are the big X-factors for each team leading into this huge Game 7.

St. Louis Cardinals

Fielding

The Cardinals are not a great defensive team. They ranked 17th in the majors in fielding percentage with a .983 mark and 23rd in UZR at minus-20.4.

It has become a huge factor in these playoffs. St. Louis doesn't have an error in any NLCS wins, but they have at least one in each loss.

In those three losses, the Cardinals have given up 18 runs, but 10 of them have been unearned.

This San Francisco team is not a great hitting team, but it's an opportunistic one. And right now, St. Louis is giving the Giants too many opportunities.

As history has shown us, as long as the Cardinals don't have any errors, they should have a great shot at winning this one.

Carlos Beltran

With Matt Holliday's status up in the air for Game 7, it'll be up to Carlos Beltran to anchor the Cardinals lineup.

Beltran has been doing it all for St. Louis in the playoffs, leading the team in average (.368), OPS (1.207), home runs (3), doubles (6) and total bases (29).

That's on top of his eight runs scored and six RBI.

If this is going to be anybody's night, it could be Beltran's. He's hitting .389 against Matt Cain in his career with one home run in 18 ABs.

Like they did in Game 3, the Red Birds need to get to Cain and get to him early. The bats have to be swinging, and there's no one better to get that going than Beltran.

San Francisco Giants

Matt Cain

Over their three NLCS wins, the Giants' rotation has allowed just two runs over 21.2 innings pitched. They live and die by their starters, and for Game 7, they will turn to ace Matt Cain.

Cain's postseason has been enigmatic. His stats look bad, toting a 4.76 ERA, but he has yet to allow more than three runs in any of his starts. Of course, he hasn't broken seven innings in any of them either.

While Cain has been good, he hasn't been ace-like. For Game 7, the Giants need him at the top of his game.

He's done it before. In the 2010 postseason, Cain didn't allow a single earned run, averaging seven innings per outing.

In 2012, Cain was one of the National League's best pitchers. He finished the season with a 2.79 ERA while averaging just under seven innings per start.

The Giants know that Cain is an ace. And if they want to win, he needs to pitch like one.

Pablo Sandoval

San Francisco's offense has been inconsistent in the NLCS, but one man has been playing his heart out, and that's the Kung Fu Panda.

Through six games, Sandoval is hitting .320/.346/.600 with two home runs and five RBI. He has been an anchor against St. Louis with at least one hit in each of San Francisco's wins.

Over their last two games, Sandoval is hitting .500 with two runs scored, a home run and two RBI.

Meanwhile, Buster Posey, Hunter Pence and Brandon Belt are hitting .181 in the NLCS. Their combined three RBI are well eclipsed by Sandoval's five.

Panda's getting hot at the right time, and his bat has anchored San Francisco's offense over its last two games. As long as he's in the lineup, the Giants are dangerous.