ST. LOUIS - David Freese arrived at Busch Stadium Tuesday thinking it would be the day he broke out of his slump. Then he looked at the lineup card and saw he had the afternoon off.
So the third baseman, stuck in a 5-for-31 slump that dropped his batting average from .329 to .283, begged and pleaded with his manager to put him in the lineup. Mike Matheny finally caved, making a late lineup change to put Freese in.
"I'm healthy and I want to get in there and keep grinding it out," Freese said. "Obviously I'm going through a little slump right now but I think it's something everybody goes through. I want to be in there.
"Sometimes you need a break, but I feel good. I want to be out there, especially with us losing four in a row, I thought I can help this team. I talked to Mike and eventually it worked out."
The Cardinals ended their skid Tuesday. Freese unfortunately prolonged his. The NLCS and World Series MVP went 0-for-5 and grounded into two double plays in the Cardinals' 7-6 win, lowering his average to .272.
Freese is 0-for-16 since a ninth inning single on May 9 in Arizona and has reached base safely just twice (two walks) in his past five games.
"It's baseball, it happens," Freese said. "I'll keep grinding it out and it will turn around. I think the most frustrating thing is when you lose games and you're a guy that drives in runs and your not doing it and not helping the team win, that's the frustrating part.
"I just see it as part of the game. You have your ups and downs. I'll just keep moving on."
Freese has hit into six double plays and has seven strikeouts in his past 10 games. He came up with the bases loaded and a chance to win the game Friday night against the Atlanta Braves but grounded into an inning-ending double play.
"He's just fighting himself," Matheny said. "He's just got to stop and breathe a little bit and that was part of the reason I wanted to give him a day to let him breathe but some guys just can't wait to get back in there to try and fix it.
"We just need to keep pointing out the positives. He's hitting some balls hard, it's just a tough time for him right now."
The Cardinals open a short two-game series in San Francisco Wednesday night. And it might be just the place for him to break out. Freese is 6-for-17 (.353 avg) in six career games at AT&T Park with a home run, three RBI and two doubles.
