Freese comes up clutch as Cardinals force series back to Philadelphia

David Freese was Mr. Clutch yet again, helping the Cardinals force a Game 5. (Photo: Reuters/Sarah Conard)

In a must-win Game 4 against the Philadelphia Phillies, it wasn’t surprising to see David Freese deliver for the St. Louis Cardinals. The former St. Louis prep star has been coming up with big hits all season long. In 158 at-bats with runners on, the 28-year-old third baseman hit .327 with a .372 On Base Percentage and 50 rbi’s. In 99 at-bats with runners in scoring position, his batting average was higher, at .354. And when there were two outs and runners in scoring position it was even higher, at .364 in 44 at-bats.

These impressive statistics mean he was right in his comfort zone in the fourth inning, with runners on first and third and one out. And produced in no time. Phillies starter Roy Oswalt hung a first-pitch curveball and Freese crushed it into the left-field corner, scoring both Lance Berkman and Matt Holiday. The Cardinals, the team that was 10 1/2 games back in the Wild Card on August 26th, had the lead and a chance to send this series to a do-or-die Game 5.

They’ve been in this must-win situation for months. They are used to fighting back. And they have been proclaimed dead so many times. How many?

“Let’s see,” slugger Matt Holiday said. “Probably every day in August. … And several in September. … And yesterday. And today.”

Just as has been the case for so long, the Cardinals didn’t let up. Freese made sure they wouldn’t. The lead was too small to realistically hold against such a potent Phillies lineup, so he added to the advantage with one powerful swing in the sixth. Two were out, one was on as he faced Oswalt again. Philadelphia’s ace couldn’t handle him again, as he crushed a low fastball into the grass beyond the center-field fence for his third and fourth rbi’s.

At the crack of the bat, pitcher Adam Wainwright, who has been a spectator most of the season due to injury, thrust his arms into the air. Busch Stadium went wild. The resilient team was well on their way to forcing the Game 5 this series deserved.

Once they did, thoughts were immediately turned to Friday night, when aces Roy Halladay against Chris Carpenter will be on the mound. What a pitching matchup, and what a game it will be.

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“It’s going to be great,” said Berkman. “Heck, yeah, you’re going to be nervous. And yeah, you’re going to have butterflies. But in terms of pressure, I mean, if we win, it’s great, and if we get beat, we get beat. But our attitude has been, we have a good team. We’re going to go out there and play as hard as we can. And if it’s good enough, great. If not, we’ve got nothing to hang our head about.

“I mean, I’m proud of this team,” Berkman went on. “I’m proud of the way we’ve fought. No matter what happens on Friday night, we’ve got nothing to be ashamed of.”

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Everything has happened to St. Louis this season, and, given their September comeback and their fight in this series, knocking out the 102-win Phillies would be very fitting.

“This is what you worked for,” Freese, who was a prep star in the area, said about his Game 4 performance, as documented by The National Post. “Just to do this in front of the fans of St. Louis and a bunch of friends and family, it’s amazing.” And if he comes up clutch away from home, in hostile Philadelphia, a Cardinals team that barely had a pulse a month ago just might be playing for the chance to go to the World Series.