Giants and Cardinals demonstrating good situational hitting

Situational hitting is key in any game, but doubly so in playoff matchups when opportunities are few and far between because of the quality of pitching. The Nationals struggled with situational hitting in the San Francisco series. In Game 4 at AT&T Park, with Bryce Harper at second base and no outs down 2-1, Wilson Ramos grounded out to the shortstop. It handcuffed Harper, who wasn't able to get to third base with less than two outs. It was a critical play in a game the Nationals had to win. Ramos had to hit the ball to deep in the outfield or to the right side so Harper could move to third base. Without extreme speed, a simple grounder was not going to get Ramos to first base. One part of watching the Giants and Cardinals battle is their ability to come up with the timely hit and generate offense when there were two outs in an inning. In Game 3 Tuesday, the Giants scored four runs in the first after there were two outs recorded. Another great example of quality situational hitting came in the fourth. Down 4-0, the Cardinals were desperate to get back in the game, but finding it difficult against Tim Hudson's sinker and cutter. They were unable to make good contact. But lefty hitter Jon Jay saw what Hudson was trying to do in his at-bat and went with the pitch he was given. On a 2-2 count, Jay lined the fourth sinker he saw from Hudson down the left field line for a base hit. Matt Holliday then singled. Later, Hudson struck out Jhonny Peralta on a wicked curveball. Something he hadn't seen before that day. But Hudson went to the well too often against Kolten Wong, hanging a curveball to one of the hottest hitters in baseball right now. Wong took advantage and slammed it off the right-center field wall. The ball ricocheted off the wall at an angle that Hunter Pence didn't expect and took a strange hop. Two runs scored and the Cardinals were back in the game. The entire rally started because Jay went where Hudson wanted him to try to swing at the pitch. A small square in the deep bottom left off the zone, away from the hitter. He created a rally because he anticipated what Hudson was trying to do. Instead of fighting the pitch and trying to pull the ball as a lefty, he went with the pitch. When facing a veteran like Hudson, you have to take advantage of those small windows he offers up. The Nationals were certainly trying to get base hits and looking to take advantage of situations presented. They just didn't do it enough in their Division Series setback.