2012 St. Louis Cardinals season

The St. Louis Cardinals 2012 season was the 131st season for the franchise in St. Louis, Missouri, the 121st season in the National League, and the seventh at Busch Stadium III. The Cardinals made their 25th trip to the postseason in 2012 after taking the NL Wild Card title by one game over the Atlanta Braves on the last day of the regular season in 2011. They began the 2012 season away against the Miami Marlins on April 4. St. Louis was coming off a 90–72 (.556) season, a second-place finish in the NL Central, the aforementioned wild card berth, and their National League-leading 11th World Series championship.

2012 St. Louis Cardinals
National League Wild Card
Major League affiliations
Location
Results
Record88–74 (.543)
Divisional place2nd
Other information
Owner(s)William DeWitt Jr.
Fred Hanser
Klingaman Group
General manager(s)John Mozeliak
Manager(s)Mike Matheny
Local televisionFox Sports Midwest
(Dan McLaughlin, Al Hrabosky, Rick Horton)
Local radioKMOX (1120AM)
(Mike Shannon, John Rooney)
StatsESPN.com
BB-reference
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In 2012, they finished with an 88–74 (.543) record and second place in the NL Central. By virtue of coming in second to the Atlanta Braves, they won the second National League Wild Card spot, and then beat the Braves in the Wild Card Game. They then played the NL East champion Washington Nationals in the NLDS and beat them in five games to advance to the NL Championship Series against the San Francisco Giants. However, they lost to the Giants in seven games after leading the series 3 games to 1.

Offseason departures and acquisitions

Management

On October 31, 2011, Tony La Russa announced his retirement after 16 years as manager of the Cardinals. After interviewing several candidates, the Cardinals announced, in a press conference on November 14, that former Cardinals catcher Mike Matheny would be the team's new manager, the 49th in team history.[1] At 41, he is the youngest active manager in the majors. He holds the catching major league record for consecutive errorless games at 252, and for consecutive errorless chances with 1,565.

On November 16, Matheny and the Cardinals announced the new coaching staff: Dave Duncan stayed on as the pitching coach for the 17th year as he was the only coach under contract, with third-base coach Jose Oquendo, hitting coach and former Cardinals slugger Mark McGwire, and bullpen coach Derek Lilliquist. 50-year-old Mike Aldrete moved from assistant hitting coach to bench coach. Chris Maloney also 50 years of age, moved from manager of the AAA Memphis Redbirds of the Pacific Coast League to first-base coach in St. Louis; his first time on a major league staff. Former bench coach Joe Pettini and first-base coach Dave McKay moved to other roles in baseball operations for the team.[2]

On December 2, former Cardinals outfielder John Mabry was named assistant hitting coach.[3]

Hitters

On December 8, Albert Pujols signed a 10-year contract with the Los Angeles Angels worth $254 million, declining a 10-year $220 million offer by the Cardinals. His old contract paid him $111 million over eight years from 2004−2011. Pujols departed among the leaders in virtually every major offensive category in Cardinals franchise history. At the time of the signing of the contract, he was fourth all-time in hits, third in runs and second in total bases, doubles, home runs, RBIs and walks. He was behind only Stan Musial in the five latter categories. He was seventh in games played and could have climbed as high as third with two more seasons in a Cardinals uniform.[4] He was paid $14,508,395 in 2011.[5] His former teammates were stunned by his decision.[6]

On December 10, the team re-signed Rafael Furcal to a two-year deal worth $14 mil.[7]

On December 12, the Cardinals refused to offer a contract to Ryan Theriot, making him a non-tendered free agent.
On the same day, utilityman [2B/OF] Skip Schumaker accepted a two-year deal worth $3 mil. avoiding free agency after 2012. He was paid $4.7 mil. in his just completed two-year deal.[8]

On December 22, the Cardinals signed outfielder Carlos Beltrán to a two-year deal.[9]

On March 1, 2012, the Cardinals announced the extension of catcher Yadier Molina's expiring $7 mil. contract at the end of 2012, for 5 years (with a 6th year $15 mil. option for 2018) for $75 mil., making him the second-highest-paid catcher (to Twins catcher Joe Mauer) in all of baseball. He leads all catchers with 39 pickoffs since 2005, and has thrown out 44% of all basestealers in his eight years. He led all Cardinals batters in 2011 with a .305 batting average, starting more games behind the plate than any other catcher, and established career-highs with 55 runs scored, 32 doubles, 14 home runs, and 65 RBIs.[10]

Pitchers

On December 15, 2011, the Cardinals signed 35-year-old lefty reliever J. C. Romero to a one-year contract.[11]

The Cardinals invited nineteen players to Spring training camp.[12]

The team finished setting its 25-man roster on March 30. Placed on the DL were pitcher Chris Carpenter, utilityman Skip Schumaker, and outfielder Allen Craig.[13]

Regular season

April

On Sunday, April 22 at Pittsburgh, the Cardinals became the first defending world champion team since the 1922 New York Giants to open their title defense with six consecutive series win.[14] They had a record of 11-5 (.688) during that streak. The series streak ended on April 24, with a second consecutive loss to the Cubs in Chicago, although winning the final game of the series on April 25.

May

The Cardinals announced they would retire former manager Tony La Russa' #10 prior to the game on May 11. His number will be the 12th retired by the Cardinals. He ranks third on the managers' all-time wins list with 2,728. 1,408 of those came with the Cardinals in his 16-year tenure there, and his .544 winning percentage with the team is his best of the three clubs he managed in his 33 seasons.[15]

On May 14, Carlos Beltrán was named the National League Player of the Week for the week of May 7–13 after posting six home runs, 13 RBIs, eight runs scored, 30 total bases, and a 1.200 slugging percentage. He collected hits in five of the six games, homering in four of them. This is Beltran's ninth Player of the Week Award and his sixth in the National League. He leads the National League with 15 home runs, and is second in RBIs, with 32.[16]

At home on May 22, Adam Wainwright threw his first complete game shutout since August 6, 2010, in a 4−0 victory over the San Diego Padres. Wainwright missed the entire 2011 season recovering from elbow surgery. It was his ninth career complete game and just his third shutout.[17]

June

Johan Santana threw the first no-hitter in New York Mets' 51-year history (totaling 8,019 regular season and 74 post-season games previously) with an 8−0 shutout over the Cardinals and Adam Wainwright at Citi Field on June 1. 27,069 witnessed the no-hitter, with Santana throwing a career-high 134 pitches. He walked five, and struck out eight. (box score) Left fielder Mike Baxter robbed Yadier Molina with a great catch in the seventh inning for the 20th out. Umpire Adrian Johnson ruled a hard grounder by former Met Carlos Beltrán (in his first return to New York) down the third-base line 'foul' although the ball made a mark on the chalk in the sixth inning. Beltran subsequently grounded out to third base on the next pitch. The no-hitter was the eighth against the Cardinals in their long history, the first time by Hall-of-Famer Christy Mathewson on July 15, 1901. The previous no-hitter against the Cardinals was by Fernando Valenzuela on June 29, 1990, at Dodger Stadium.[18][19] The Cardinals were also the first defending World Series champion to be pitched a no-hitter against since the Oakland Athletics in their 1990 pennant season.[20][21] On the opposite side, Cardinals' pitchers have thrown 10 no-hitters against opponents, the last one by Bud Smith against the San Diego Padres on September 3, 2001. The Padres are now the only present team without a no-hitter.

On June 7, Jaime García (left-hander), landed on the disabled list after his 2-inning June 5 start with a left shoulder sprain. He is the eighth player on it, one-off the season high of nine—at the same time with the seven others which include two starting pitchers (he and Chris Carpenter), two relievers (Scott Linebrink and Kyle McClellan), two infielders (Lance Berkman and Matt Carpenter), and two outfielders (Jon Jay and Skip Schumaker).[22]

On June 15, batting against his old team the Kansas City Royals, Carlos Beltrán became the first switch-hitter in MLB history to attain 300 home runs and 300 stolen bases, with his seventh stolen base in the second inning. Seven other hitters also are members of the 300-300 club.[23]

July

Carlos Beltrán (of) and Rafael Furcal (ss) won the fan voting to be starters at their positions for the 83rd All-Star Game in Kansas City's Kauffman Stadium on July 10. Yadier Molina (c) was selected by the players as a reserve for his fourth consecutive year; he ranked second in the voting to starter Buster Posey. Lance Lynn was also selected by the players as a reserve pitcher; his first time going to the All-Star Game. Retired Cardinals' manager Tony La Russa will un-retire for the one game. Coaches Derek Lilliquist, Jose Oquendo and Mark McGwire will also be participating in the event, as all are members of La Russa's All-Star staff. Former St. Louis coaches Joe Pettini, Dave McKay and Dave Duncan are members of that coaching staff, as well. Beltran is leading the NL with 61 RBIs, and second in home runs with 20. He also ranks in the top 10 with a .310 batting average. It will be his fourth time as an All-Star fan-vote starter, seventh overall.[24] As an added bonus for Beltran, he was also picked to participate in the Home Run Derby contest on July 9, the night before the All-Star Game. It will be the first time for him in that fan-favorite event.[25]

On July 6, after the passing of Yadier Molina's wife's grandfather, he left the team to join his family in Puerto Rico and was put on the bereavement list. He will miss the three weekend games and won't participate in the All-Star game. Matt Holliday was picked by Tony La Russa to replace him on the roster. Bryan Anderson was recalled from AAA-Memphis to replace Molina on the Cardinals' roster, with Tony Cruz to start as catcher for the weekend games.[26]

After the rosters were opened to the fans, voting was held to decide the final fan-voted addition to each team. The online balloting was conducted from Sunday afternoon, July 1, through Thursday afternoon, July 5. The winners of the final vote were David Freese of the St. Louis Cardinals (NL), and Yu Darvish of the Texas Rangers (AL). Chipper Jones, of the Atlanta Braves, was removed from the ballot on July 3 after he replaced Matt Kemp on the roster due to Kemp's injury.[27]

The 83rd All-Star Game on July 10, at Kansas City's Kaufmann Stadium was an 8-0 blowout for the National League, its sixth shutout win against two shutout losses for the NL. It made retired manager Tony La Russa the first manager to win All-Star Games in both leagues. He was 3-0 in the AL, but 0-2 in the NL before this year's game.[28] La Russa emphasized this was his final game as a manager.[29][30]

On July 3, the team and disabled pitcher Chris Carpenter decided he will have season-ending surgery to repair his thoracic outlet syndrome that has plagued him all year with nerve-related shoulder problems. Recovery time is estimated at six months, so if done this month he will be ready for spring training in February 2013.[31] Surgery is set for July 19, performed by Dr. Gregory Pearl in Dallas, Texas.[32]

On July 16, Trevor Rosenthal was called up for the first time to the major leagues, and made his debut in the eighth inning on July 18, the 2,000th player in Cardinals' history. No other franchise in baseball has reached 2,000.[33]

On July 21, at home against the Cubs, a 0−0 tight game started by Jake Westbrook (8-8, after getting the win in 7 inn.) was broken in the bottom of the seventh with a 12-run explosion by the Cardinals, won by that 12−0 score with 16 hits against only 4 for the Cubs. The inning-explosion featured 7 doubles, tying a major-league record set by the (NL) 1936 Boston Bees (against the Cardinals at Sportsmen's Park, first inning on August 25), 17 batters with 10 hits including a triple, 2 singles, 2 walks, and a wild pitch. David Freese started the inning with an infield single. Allen Craig then got one of his two doubles that inning, and the merry-go-round was on. The 12-runs in an inning also tied the highest runs in any inning by a Cardinals' team since the 1926 club did it in the third inning against the Phillies on September 15. Gameday Recap [34] The club got 27 total bases and 9 doubles in the game—the last time they did that was on July 12, 1931.[35]

The team made a trade on the last day of the non-waiver deadline, July 31, sending minor-league third baseman Zack Cox to the Miami Marlins for minor-league relief pitcher Edward Mujica.[36]

August

On August 3, Lance Berkman went on the disabled list for the third time this season with knee problems.[37]

Matt Holliday got his 1,500th career hit on August 30.

September

Yadier Molina got his 1,000th career hit on September 4, a rare infield single.

Shelby Miller got his first major league win as a reliever, in a crucial fourth game of the series, in the 12th-inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers on September 16.[38]

On September 17, the Cardinals announced they were moving their short-season affiliation with the Batavia (NY) Muckdogs to the State College (PA) Spikes in the same New York–Penn League.[39]

On September 19, the Cardinals announced they were moving their low-A team from Quad Cities (Iowa) back to Peoria (Illinois) where they had the team from 1995–2004, in the Midwest League.[40]

On September 19, David Freese and Yadier Molina hit their 20th home runs of the seasons. It marked the first time in Cardinals' history that five players have hit 20 home runs in a season, with the shutout win against the Houston Astros. Carlos Beltrán (29), Matt Holliday (27), and Allen Craig (21) reached 20 previously.[41]

On September 20, the Cardinals went over the 3 million attendance figure for the ninth consecutive year.[42]

On September 21, Chris Carpenter returned to the rotation for the first time this season after surgery in July, refuting doctors' predictions of no pitching possible in 2012. He faced 22 batters (77 pitches, 47 strikes) in pitching five innings, giving up five hits (incl. a double and triple) and two runs, hitting one batter, walking one, and striking out two against the Chicago Cubs in Chicago, leading 3−2 after the fifth inning, but Fernando Salas blew the save for him with two-outs and two strikes in the ninth when leading 4–2, and the team lost in 11 innings.[42][43][44] "My stuff wasn't as sharp as I'd like, it wasn't even as sharp as it's been in those simulated games", said Carpenter, who preceded this start with four simulated games. "I did the best I could to get as many outs as I could and give us a chance. It was fun to go out there. It's definitely something I can build on, and hopefully my stuff is sharper as I get out there more often." [45]

On September 23, Pete Kozma hit his first home run. The next game on the 24th he hit his second home run.

On September 24, closer Jason Motte was named NL Player of the Week after saving all five of the Cardinals' wins in the week of September 17–23, and is leading the NL in saves with his 40th. He became the first closer with the Cardinals to save 40 games since Jason Isringhausen in 2004. It was the first time he has won that award, and the first time a closer had won it since Huston Street in 2009.[46][47]

October

On October 2, despite losing in their 161st game with a chance to clinch in front of almost 40,000 fans, the team later clinched the second wild-card spot when the Los Angeles Dodgers lost to their arch-rival San Francisco Giants.[48][49]

For the last game of the season at home on October 3, Shelby Miller, who started 2012 as the club's top prospect, made his major league debut as a starter against the Cincinnati Reds. He has already had five appearances (1-0, 2.35 ERA) in 7.2 IP as a reliever.[50]

Season standings

NL Central standings
NL Central W L Pct. GB Home Road
Cincinnati Reds 9765 0.599 — 50–31 47–34
St. Louis Cardinals 8874 0.543 9 50–31 38–43
Milwaukee Brewers 8379 0.512 14 49–32 34–47
Pittsburgh Pirates 7983 0.488 18 45–36 34–47
Chicago Cubs 61101 0.377 36 38–43 23–58
Houston Astros 55107 0.340 42 35–46 20–61

NL Wild Card
Division leaders W L Pct.
Washington Nationals 9864 0.605
Cincinnati Reds 9765 0.599
San Francisco Giants 9468 0.580
Wild Card teams
(Top two qualify for postseason)		 W L Pct. GB
Atlanta Braves 9468 0.580 +6
St. Louis Cardinals 8874 0.543 —
Los Angeles Dodgers 8676 0.531 2
Milwaukee Brewers 8379 0.512 5
Arizona Diamondbacks 8181 0.500 7
Philadelphia Phillies 8181 0.500 7
Pittsburgh Pirates 7983 0.488 9
San Diego Padres 7686 0.469 12
New York Mets 7488 0.457 14
Miami Marlins 6993 0.426 19
Colorado Rockies 6498 0.395 24
Chicago Cubs 61101 0.377 27
Houston Astros 55107 0.340 33

Performance Against National League Opponents
2012 National League Records

Source: MLB Standings Grid
Team ARI ATL CHC CIN COL HOU LAD MIA MIL NYM PHI PIT SD SF STL WSH AL
Arizona–2–55–42–59–76–012–65–33–33–42–43–47–119–91–52–49–6
Atlanta5–2–3–41–56–14–23–314–43–312–612–63–24–33–45–18–108–10
Chicago4–54–3–4–122–48–52–42–44–134–22–48–83–31–67–101–65–10
Cincinnati5–25–112–4–5–110–52–43–39–66–23–411–76–24–36–72–57–8
Colorado7–91–64–21–5–5–28–103–45–15–22–72–48–104–142–54–32–13
Houston0–62–45–85–102–5–2–42–48–94–23–35–123–51–84–111–76–9
Los Angeles6–123–34–24–210–84–2–4–21–64–35–26–111–78-106–54–26–9
Miami3–54–144–23–34–34–22–4–4–44–128–101–45–15–22–59–95–13
Milwaukee3–33–313–46–91–59–86–14–4–3–22–511–43–42–46–93–56–9
New York4–36–122–42–62–52–43–412–42–3–10–85–24–34–44–34–148–7
Philadelphia4–26–124–24–37–23–32–510–85–28–10–3–44–32–45–29-95–10
Pittsburgh4–32–38–87–114–212–51–64–14–112–54–3–1–53–38–73–210–8
San Diego11–73–43–32–610–85–37–111–54–33–43–45–1–6–123–32–38–7
San Francisco9–94–36–13–414–48–110–82–54–24–44–23–312–6–3–31–57–8
St. Louis5–11–510–77–65–211–45–65–29–63–43–47–83–33–3–3–48–7
Washington4–210–86–15–23–47–12–49–95–314–49-92–33–25-14-3–10–8

Performance Against American League Opponents
TeamW-L Record
Chicago White Sox2-1
Cleveland Indians1-2
Detroit Tigers1-2
Kansas City Royals4–2

Performance Against Divisions
DivisionsHomeRoadTotalTotal Pct.
NL Central26-1219-2045-32.584
NL East7-97-1114-20.412
NL West13-58-1021-15.583
Interleague/AL Central4-54-28-7.533
TOTAL50-3138-4388-74.543

Players and Coaching Staff
See also: St. Louis Cardinals all-time roster

Opening Day lineup
NumberNamePosition
15Rafael FurcalSS
3Carlos BeltránRF
7Matt HollidayLF
12Lance Berkman1B
23David Freese    3B
4Yadier MolinaC
19Jon JayCF
33Daniel Descalso2B
26Kyle LohseP

Roster
2012 St. Louis Cardinals
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders Manager

Coaches

Farm system
See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Memphis Redbirds Pacific Coast League Ron Warner
AA Springfield Cardinals Texas League Mike Shildt
A Palm Beach Cardinals Florida State League Johnny Rodríguez
A Quad Cities River Bandits Midwest League Luis Aguayo
A-Short Season Batavia Muckdogs New York–Penn League Dann Bilardello
Rookie Johnson City Cardinals Appalachian League Oliver Marmol
Rookie GCL Cardinals Gulf Coast League Steve Turco

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Springfield

For more information about minor league teams, minor league players and the St. Louis Cardinals organization, see St. Louis Cardinals minor league players and:

St. Louis Cardinals Farm System Affiliates
2012 Prospect Watch
Cards organization preview, Top 20 Prospects, MLB.com (February 8, 2012)
Memphis Redbirds (Memphis Redbirds-AAA roster)
Springfield Cardinals (Springfield Cardinals-AA roster)

Composite scoring by inning
INNING12345678910111213141516171819TOTAL
CARDINALS115851065978919084465040100100765
OPPONENTS102556569509877644610221120103648

Batters

Notes: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs; H = Hits; 2B= Doubles; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; BB = Walks; SO = Strikeouts; GIDP = Grounded into double play; Avg. = Batting average; OBP = On-base percentage; SLG = Slugging percentage

Players HITTING statistics

=Team leader
Player G AB R H 2B HR RBI BB SO GIDP Avg. OBP SLG
Matt Holliday1575999517736271027513216.295.379.497
Carlos Beltrán15154783147263297651249.269.346.495
Yadier Molina13850565159282276455510.315.373.501
David Freese144501701472520795712219.293.372.467
Rafael Furcal † (leadoff -8/30)121477691261854944577.264.325.346
Allen Craig (utility/1b)11946976144352292378915.307.354.522
Jon Jay117443701352244034719.305.373.400
Daniel Descalso14337441 851042637835.227.303.324
Matt Carpenter11429644 8722646346310.294.365.463
Skip Schumaker10727237 751412827506.276.339.368
Lance Berkman ( -9/7) 31  8012 21 72 714193.263.385.450
Team Totals (10/3)1625,6227651,5262901597325331,192135.271.338.421
NL Rank---1216724132214

BOLD = Lead NL
* not on active roster
** on personal leave; date and G missed
† on 15-day disabled list; date DL and G missed
†† on 60-day disabled list

TEAM HITTING statistics

Baseball Reference – 2012 St. Louis Cardinals

Starting pitchers

Note: GS = Games Started; IP = Innings Pitched; W = Wins; L = Loss; ERA = Earned Run Average; WHIP = (Walks + Hits) per Innings Pitched; HBP = Hit by Pitch; BF = Batters faced; O-AVG = Opponent Batting Ave.; O-OBP = Opponent On-Base Ave.; O-SLG = Opponent Slugging Ave.; R suppt = Runs support average from his team's batters per Games Started

Cardinals PITCHING statistics

Sortable TEAM PITCHING Statistics

=Team leader
Player GS IP W L ERA H HR BB SO WHIP HBP BF O-AVG O-OBP O-SLG R suppt
Kyle Lohse33 211.01632.86 19219381431.094  864.239.274.3684.4
Adam Wainwright (2 ShO)32 198.214133.94 19615521841.256  831.259.309.3924.5
Jake Westbrook (1 CG)28 174.213113.97 19112521061.398  751.282.338.3915.1
Lance Lynn (as starter only)29 169.01753.67 15715621741.309  710.248.322.3965.9
Jaime García20 121.2 773.92136 730 981.360  515.289.327.4024.2
Joe Kelly (as starter only)16   91.1 463.74  97 9 32 591.412  391.275.338.4194.4
Chris Carpenter 3   17.0 023.71  16 2  3 121.122    72.242.296.4241.7
Shelby Miller (as starter only) 1    6.0 000.00   1 0  2   70.501    21.056.190.0561.0
Starters' Totals162989.171473.62986792717831.27324,155.261.313.3904.75

Bold = lead NL * not on active roster
† on 15-day disabled list; DL date and G missed
†† on 60-day disabled list

Relief pitchers

Notes: IP = Innings Pitched; ERA = Earned Run Average; WHIP = (Walks + Hits) per Innings Pitched

17-27; 3.90 ERA; 473.1 IP; 434 H; 212 R; 205 ER; 55 HR; 165 BB; 435 SO; 1.266 WHIP
42/64 SV/Opp; 115 Holds; 343/492 First Batter Retired (70%); 64/242 Inherited Runners Scored (26%) [51]

Relievers statistics

Pitcher G IP W L ERA H HR BB SO WHIP HBP BF O-AVG O-OBP O-SLG
Lance Lynn (2012 totals)35 176.01873.78 16816641801.3210  744.253.327.401
Joe Kelly (2012 totals)24 107.0 573.53 1121036  751.38 3  457.271.333.407
Shelby Miller (2012 totals) 6  13.2 101.32    9  0 4  160.95 1    54.184.259.204

Scheduling and Results

Home attendance
YearAttendance (games)AVG/gameNL Rank
20123,262,109 (81)40,2734th of 16
20113,093,954 (81)38,1973rd of 16

2012 St. Louis Cardinals
2011 St. Louis Cardinals

Game log

As with all 30 teams, Major League Baseball released the Cardinals' 2012 schedule on September 14, 2011. The Cardinals' Opening Day game was away against the Miami Marlins on April 4[52] and was nationally televised by ESPN at 6 PM CDT.[53][54]

All game times for the following table were in Central Time Zone,[55] and were broadcast on Fox Sports Midwest, unless otherwise noted. Twenty games from April 9 to August 10 were blacked out for those watching Fox Sports Midwest from their AT&T U-verse cable because of a financial dispute between them continuing from the previous year.[56] Those games are marked with an asterisk (*) in the schedule below.

Legend
Cardinals Win Cardinals Loss Game Postponed / Tie
2012 Game Log

See also

Regular Season Schedule (calendar style)
Regular Season Schedule (sortable text)
National Broadcast Schedule (all teams), EDT

Postseason Game Log
2012 Postseason Game Log

Cardinals Record When

(through October 3, final)

SituationW-L RecordPct.
Home50-31.617
Away38-43.469
Scoring first58-26.687
Opponent scores first30-48.385
Scoring more than 3 runs76-19.800
Scoring 3 runs7-16.304
Scoring fewer than 3 runs5-39.114
Leading after 7 innings78-5.940
Tied after 7 innings5-12.294
Trailing after 7 innings5-57.081
Leading after 8 innings80-6.930
Tied after 8 innings4-10.286
Trailing after 8 innings4-58.065
In errorless games52-35.598
In error-made games36-39.480
Out-hit opponents73-13.849
Same hits as opponents4-7.364
Out-hit by opponents11-54.169
Extra innings6-12.333
Shutouts10-11.476
One-run games21-26.447
One or Two-run games28-43.394
Monday games13-4.765
Tuesday games14-11.560
Wednesday games17-9.654
Thursday games8-8.500
Friday games9-17.346
Saturday games12-14.462
Sunday games15-11.577
StatNumberTotalPct.
Runs via HR259765.339
Opp. Runs via HR230648.355

Postseason

Wild Card Game

Friday, October 5, 2012

Main article: 2012 National League Wild Card Game
Team123456789RHE
St. Louis Cardinals000301200660
Atlanta Braves0200001003123
WP: Kyle Lohse (1–0)   LP: Kris Medlen (0–1)   Sv: Jason Motte (1)
Home runs:
STL: Matt Holliday (1)
ATL: David Ross (1)

Time: 3:09 (:19 min. delay)
Attendance: 52,631[57]
Official Box Score

Division Series
Main article: 2012 National League Division Series

Game 1, October 7

3:07 p.m. (EDT) at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri

Team123456789RHE
Washington010000020382
St. Louis020000000231
WP: Ryan Mattheus (1–0)   LP: Mitchell Boggs (0–1)   Sv: Drew Storen (1)

Game 2, October 8

4:37 p.m. (EDT) at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri

Team123456789RHE
Washington0100201004102
St. Louis04120104X12130
WP: Lance Lynn (1–0)   LP: Jordan Zimmermann (0–1)
Home runs:
WSH: Ryan Zimmerman (1), Adam LaRoche (1)
STL: Allen Craig (1), Daniel Descalso (1), Carlos Beltrán 2 (2)

Game 3, October 10

1:07 p.m. (EDT) at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C.

Team123456789RHE
St. Louis1300011208141
Washington000000000070
WP: Chris Carpenter (1–0)   LP: Edwin Jackson (0–1)
Home runs:
STL: Pete Kozma (1)
WSH: None

Game 4, October 11

4:07 p.m. (EDT) at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C.

Team123456789RHE
St. Louis001000000130
Washington010000001231
WP: Drew Storen (1-0)   LP: Lance Lynn (1-1)
Home runs:
STL: None
WSH: Adam LaRoche (2), Jayson Werth (1)

Game 5, October 12

8:37 p.m. (EDT) at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C.

Team123456789RHE
St. Louis0001201149110
Washington3030000107110
WP: Jason Motte (1–0)   LP: Drew Storen (1–1)
Home runs:
STL: Daniel Descalso (2)
WSH: Ryan Zimmerman (2), Bryce Harper (1), Michael Morse (1)

Time: 3:49
Attendance: 45,966[58]
Official Box Score

Composite line score

2012 NLDS (3–2): St. Louis Cardinals over Washington Nationals

Team123456789RHE
St. Louis Cardinals19232227432442
Washington Nationals33302013116395
Total attendance: 228,293   Average attendance: 45,659

National League Championship Series
Main article: 2012 National League Championship Series

Game 1

Sunday, October 14, 2012 – 8:15 p.m. (EDT) at AT&T Park in San Francisco, California[59]

Team123456789RHE
St. Louis020400000680
San Francisco000400000471
WP: Edward Mujica (1–0)   LP: Madison Bumgarner (0–1)   Sv: Jason Motte (1)
Home runs:
STL: David Freese (1), Carlos Beltrán (1)
SF: None

Game 1 was a nail biter. Carlos Beltrán hit his 14th career postseason homer and David Freese also went deep as the Cardinals took a 6–4 lead over the San Francisco Giants after six innings of the NL championship series opener. Freese hit a two-run homer in the second and Beltrán followed with one in the fourth as the Cardinals knocked out Madison Bumgarner with six runs in ​3 2⁄3 innings.

Bumgarner breezed through a perfect first inning but ran into trouble in the second when Yadier Molina singled on an 0–2 pitch with one out. Freese then drove a 3–2 pitch over the wall in left-center to give the Cardinals a 2–0 lead. That gave Freese 25 career RBIs in the postseason and tied him with Molina for third most ever for the Cardinals. Bumgarner then couldn't make it out of the fourth. Descalso doubled and scored on Pete Kozma's double. Jon Jay added a two-out RBI single and Beltrán ended Bumgarner's night with the homer.

George Kontos got out of the fourth and Tim Lincecum pitched two hitless innings as he once again excelled in his new role out of the bullpen.

Lance Lynn struggled to hold onto that lead in his first postseason start after 10 career relief appearances. After starting the game with three hitless innings, Lynn ran into trouble with two outs and a runner on first in the fourth. Hunter Pence and Brandon Belt followed with singles to drive in San Francisco's first run. They both scored on Gregor Blanco's triple. Brandon Crawford followed with an RBI double to make it 6–4 and Lynn left after walking pinch-hitter Aubrey Huff. Joe Kelly got out of the jam when second baseman Daniel Descalso made a diving stop of Ángel Pagán's grounder up the middle.

No runs were scored for the remainder of the contest.

Game 2

Monday, October 15, 2012 – 8:07 p.m. (EDT) at AT&T Park in San Francisco, California[60]

Team123456789RHE
St. Louis010000000152
San Francisco10040002X7120
WP: Ryan Vogelsong (1–0)   LP: Chris Carpenter (0–1)
Home runs:
STL: None
SF: Ángel Pagán (1)

Game 3

Wednesday, October 17, 2012 – 4:07 p.m. (EDT) at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri[61]

Team123456789RHE
San Francisco001000000191
St. Louis00200010X360
WP: Kyle Lohse (1–0)   LP: Matt Cain (0–1)   Sv: Jason Motte (2)
Home runs:
SF: None
STL: Matt Carpenter (1)

A 3-hour 28 min rain delay was longer than the time of the game itself at 3:02.

Game 4

Thursday, October 18, 2012 – 8:07 p.m. (EDT) at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri[62]

Team123456789RHE
San Francisco010000002361
St. Louis20002220X8120
WP: Adam Wainwright (1-0)   LP: Tim Lincecum (0-1)
Home runs:
SF: Hunter Pence (1), Pablo Sandoval (1)
STL: None

The second-largest crowd of the year 47,062 saw the Cardinals win, 8-3. Adam Wainwright went seven strong innings, giving up only four hits and one run, the home run to Hunter Pence, walking none and striking out five.

Game 5

Friday, October 19, 2012 – 8:07 p.m. (EDT) at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri[63]

Team123456789RHE
San Francisco000400010560
St. Louis000000000071
WP: Barry Zito (1–0)   LP: Lance Lynn (0–1)
Home runs:
SF: Pablo Sandoval (2)
STL: None

Game 6

Sunday, October 21, 2012 – 7:45 p.m. (EDT) at AT&T Park in San Francisco, California[64]

Team123456789RHE
St. Louis000001000151
San Francisco14000001X691
WP: Ryan Vogelsong (2–0)   LP: Chris Carpenter (0–2)

Game 7

Monday, October 22, 2012 – 8:07 p.m. (EDT) at AT&T Park in San Francisco, California[65]

Team123456789RHE
St. Louis000000000072
San Francisco11500011X9140
WP: Matt Cain (1–1)   LP: Kyle Lohse (1–1)
Home runs:
STL: None
SF: Brandon Belt (1)

Composite line score

2012 NLCS (4–3): San Francisco Giants over St. Louis Cardinals

Team123456789RHE
St. Louis Cardinals23242330019506
San Francisco Giants366120015235634
Total attendance: 311,326   Average attendance: 44,475

Farm system
See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Memphis Redbirds Pacific Coast League Ron Warner
AA Springfield Cardinals Texas League Mike Shildt
A Palm Beach Cardinals Florida State League Johnny Rodríguez
A Quad Cities River Bandits Midwest League Luis Aguayo
A-Short Season Batavia Muckdogs New York–Penn League Dann Bilardello
Rookie Johnson City Cardinals Appalachian League Oliver Marmol
Rookie GCL Cardinals Gulf Coast League Steve Turco

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Springfield

Draft selections

St. Louis Cardinals 2012 Draft Selections

References
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