Burleson's clutch gene growing stronger as season winds down

ST. LOUIS -- Cardinals starter Michael McGreevy was pretty good on Sunday at Busch Stadium, tossing six innings of one-run baseball. For a while, it seemed as though pretty good wasn’t going to cut it. For a while, the other guy was perfect.

Just hours after the White Sox made official his recall from Triple-A Charlotte, 25-year-old rookie right-hander David Sandlin flirted with baseball history in his sixth career big league game.

But by the time his day had ended, Sandlin was watching from the dugout as Alec Burleson cleared the three baserunners he left behind amid a mid-inning departure in the sixth.

Burleson’s three-run double held up as the Cardinals beat the White Sox, 3-1.

The Cardinals didn’t so much as sniff at the notion of a baserunner until the bottom of the sixth.

“I agree,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol interjected at the notion that it took some time Sunday before the Cardinals found their first scoring chance.

Through five innings, Sandlin had spent just 52 pitches and the Cardinals’ malaise threatened to land them on the wrong side of history. Before the end of the following inning, however, the Cardinals chased the rookie from the game -- and ultimately, saddled him with the loss.

With one out in the sixth, Nathan Church inspired a collective exhale when he broke up the perfect-game bid, dumping a soft liner into right field.

Masyn Winn ripped a single over the head of leaping Chicago shortstop Colson Montgomery, who then helped the cause two batters later when he booted an Iván Herrera ground ball up the middle.

That extended the inning to left-handed-slugger Burleson, triggering a move to the Chicago bullpen. Burleson feasts on right-handed pitching, so he wasn’t going to get another crack at Sandlin.

The evolution of Burleson’s run-producing prowess was on display as he smacked a bases-clearing double against lefty Chris Murphy. The swing boosted Burleson to 109 RBIs, propelling him back ahead of Sal Stewart for the Major League lead.

Amid his rocket to the top of the RBI leaderboard, Burleson has answered the question ad nauseam -- when the guys at the top of the Cardinals lineup set the table for him, he simply sees it as his job description as a middle-order hitter to drive them in.

The opposition’s desire to stack Burleson’s plate appearances against lefties isn’t difficult to understand, given his status as one of the game’s most prolific punishers of right-handed pitching. Burleson’s OPS against righties this season is .935, which ranks sixth in MLB among qualifying hitters.

But a hitter doesn’t find his way to the MLB lead for RBIs as a one-dimensional threat. At one time, it wouldn’t have been unfair to label Burleson that way. For a lengthy stretch of the year, his struggles with lefties were pronounced.

But no longer.

“I’ll date that back to a good conversation with him in Atlanta as far as sticking with him even on days where it’s a lefty starter,” Marmol explained. “Because he’s the type of player that should be able to play every day, regardless of who’s on the bump. He’s got that skill set.

“If you look back at his at-bats from that point to now, he’s taking much better left-on-lefts. He’s made it a point to work on it and to place emphasis on it.”

The numbers tell the tale.

Prior to the series from June 30 to July 2 in Atlanta, Burleson sported a paltry .449 OPS against lefties. The Cardinals faced one lefty starter during that series, Martín Pérez, and Burleson didn’t crack the lineup.

In the aftermath of that series, and the aforementioned conversation with his manager during it, Burleson has been a different hitter against southpaws.

Since July 3, Burleson has posted a .662 OPS against LHP -- nothing earth-shattering, but a marked improvement over where he had been.

The uptick with ducks on the pond, though, has been dramatic. Since July 3, Burleson has compiled a remarkable .952 OPS against lefties with RISP, leading all MLB hitters in that span.

“I put the emphasis on it probably halfway through the year,” Burleson said. “I think it’s been good the second half of the year. It could’ve been a lot better, should be a lot better. That’s just the higher expectation I have for myself. But it’s good to make the necessary adjustments and see them come through for the team.”

He was already one of the most powerful clutch hitters in baseball. For opposing managers looking to solve Burleson in clutch situations, a steady diet of lefties is no longer the automatic answer it used to be.