It’s been almost a decade since the Cardinals had a pitcher get 20 hits in a season.
Adam Wainwright is the best-hitting pitcher on the 2014 Cardinals. He has reached double digits in hits in five of his last six seasons. His season high is 18 with the 2007 Cardinals.
The last Cardinals pitcher to reach 20 hits in a season is Jason Marquis. He had 27 in 2005.
Bob Gibson is the last Cardinals pitcher to get 30 hits in a season. He had 33 in 1970.
The last Cardinals pitcher to achieve 40 hits in a season is Curt Davis. He had 40 in 1939.
Wainwright hit .290 (18-for-62) in 2007. That’s the closest a Cardinals pitcher has come to getting 20 hits in a season since Marquis hit .310 (27-for-87) with eight doubles and 10 RBI in 2005. The 27 hits are a single-season career high for Marquis, a 14-year major league veteran who bats left and pitches right.
Silver slugger
Marquis was named the pitcher on The Sporting News Silver Slugger team in 2005. Three of his 27 hits that season were as a pinch hitter. The 27 hits were the most for a big-league pitcher since Rick Rhoden had 28 for the 1984 Pirates.
Two of Marquis’ best 2005 games as a hitter came against the Reds and Astros.
On April 12, 2005, Marquis hit a three-run triple off Aaron Harang in a 5-1 Cardinals victory over the Reds at St. Louis.
When Marquis came to bat with the bases loaded in the second inning, Jim Edmonds, standing on third, turned to Reds third baseman Joe Randa and said, “We got one advantage here. Our best hitter’s at the plate right now.”
Marquis hooked a 3-and-2 pitch past first baseman Sean Casey and into the right-field corner, clearing the bases. “I just want to put the ball in play, hit it hard and make something happen while I eliminate the strikeouts,” Marquis said to Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Boxscore
Two months later, June 4, Marquis got two hits in an inning and went 3-for-3 with two runs scored and two RBI in an 11-9 Cardinals victory over the Astros at Houston. Marquis opened the third with a single and capped the inning with a two-run home run off Wandy Rodriguez. Marquis also singled in the fifth against Brandon Backe.
“I go up to the plate thinking I’m going to get a hit every time up,” Marquis told the Post-Dispatch. “I see the ball pretty well.” Boxscore
20 wins, .300 batting average
Gibson, who played 17 years for the Cardinals, established a single-season career high with his 33 hits in 1970. He batted .303 (33-for-109) with 19 RBI that season. He also got a career-best 23 wins, earning his second Cy Young Award. He is the last big-league pitcher to achieve 20 wins and hit .300 in the same season.
One of Gibson’s best hitting performances that year occurred on June 3 in a 6-5 Cardinals victory over the Giants at St. Louis. Gibson went 3-for-4 with two RBI, including the game winner.
Gibson had a RBI-single in the second, scoring Ted Simmons, and singled again in the fourth, both hits coming against Rich Robertson. In the seventh, facing Frank Reberger with the score tied at 5-5, Gibson singled past first baseman Willie McCovey, driving in Simmons with the winning run.
“I can’t think of any tougher way to win than that,” Gibson told the Associated Press. Boxscore
On Aug. 22, 1970, Gibson went 2-for-4 with a double and a triple, scored twice and drove in two runs in the Cardinals’ 7-0 victory over the Padres at San Diego. In the fourth inning, Dal Maxvill and Gibson hit back-to-back triples off Danny Coombs. In the sixth, Gibson’s double off Coombs scored Simmons. Boxscore
Davis delivers
One of the most remarkable single-season performances by a Cardinals pitcher was delivered by Curt Davis in 1939. A right-hander acquired from the Cubs for Dizzy Dean, Davis batted .381 (40-for-105) with 17 RBI for the 1939 Cardinals. He also posted a 22-16 record, pitching 248 innings that year.
Described by The Sporting News as “the lean, silent man,” Davis twice had three-hit games for the 1939 Cardinals: May 9 versus the Dodgers Boxscore and June 21 against the Phillies. Boxscore
The next year, Davis was hitless in 19 at-bats for the Cardinals before he was traded to the Dodgers.
Previously: Slider was key to 15 wins in row for Bob Gibson in 1968
Leave a Reply