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 In Game Two of their National League Champions Series against San
Francisco on Sunday, the Cardinals had four home runs, all solo
shots, in a 5-4 win over the Giants that sends the series to
California tied at 1-1.
St. Louis were last in the National League with 105 homers during
the regular season, but have hit 11 in an explosion of postseason
power.
Matt Carpenter, Oscar Taveras, Matt Adams and Kolten Wong all went
deep on Sunday. After the game, Taveras, Adams and Wong – all smiles
as they sat should-to-shoulder for a group interview -- said they
were not swinging for the fences.
"I think if we go up there looking to hit a homer we're going to get
too big and probably end up getting jammed," Adams said. "We don't
go up there trying to hit the ball out of the park."
 When asked to explain the power surge in the postseason, Adams said
it was simply the product of sticking with an approach and having
good at-bats.
"Throughout the season people were worried about our power, but we
knew inside the clubhouse that we didn't lose any power (from the
2013 season)," he said.
Wong, whose walk-off homer in the bottom of the ninth inning sent
the standing room-only, red-clad crowd into a frenzy, agreed.
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"You have so much adrenaline, so much excitement going on being at
this stage... things you never expected to happen, happen," he said.
Cards coach Mike Matheny said the key has been simply trying to put
a good swing on the ball.
"In the big situations, they seem to get a little air under it," he
said.
(This story was refiled to fix typo in last paragraph)
(Editing by Peter Rutherford)
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