Renteria Continues To Emerge Offensively
By JOE STRAUSS Post-Dispatch
May 02, 2003
The Cardinals' 6-5 win Thursday was part of a typical day for shortstop Edgar Renteria. While Jim Edmonds contributed a game-winning home run in the 10th inning following a bullpen meltdown, Renteria tied the fragments together with four hits.
The performance marked the 10th four-hit game of Renteria's career and increased his league-high number of multi-hit games this season to 16. Renteria contributed nine hits and seven RBIs to the Cardinals' three-game sweep of the Mets. He then ate, showered and dressed while the day's focus fell elsewhere.
"We won the game; By winning, it's more exciting," said Renteria, who also has 13 two-hit games and two three-hit games this season.
A career .283 hitter more comfortable hitting lower in the lineup, Renteria is batting .366 with a team-high 24 RBIs. His .589 slugging percentage trails only Edmonds' .763 and Albert Pujols' .671 among Cardinals regulars. Renteria and Edmonds are tied with 17 extra-base hits.
Renteria's breakout hardly is coincidence. He won a Silver Slugger (awarded to the league's top hitter at each position) last season and is increasingly recognized as his league's premier shortstop.
"Before, I just played with my natural ability," Renteria said. "Now I work to keep going and to stay consistent."
Brewers manager Ned Yost christened Renteria the league's most underrated player after the Cardinals' recent series in Milwaukee. Renteria's batting average ranks third in the league, and he has 11 hits in the Cardinals' four-game winning streak.
With one out in Thursday's fifth inning, Renteria waited on Mets starter Steve Trachsel's two-strike curveball, driving it to right field to begin a two-run rally. In the sixth, he greeted reliever David Weathers with a bunt that went for an uncontested single.
In the eighth inning, he slammed a double to left field against Mets closer Armando Benitez.
Renteria seemed to labor for much of spring training but was actually employing a more patient approach that allowed him to see more pitches.
"My mind was all right," he said. "I wasn't thinking about it too much because it was only spring training. I know you have to get ready in spring training for the season. If you're not doing anything (statistically) in spring training, you don't have to worry."
Renteria, 27, has resembled a different player since the second half of 2001. Coincidentally, he threw himself into a strength-and-conditioning program before last season that made him stronger and increased his stamina during the season. He drove in 50 runs with 93 hits after last June.
"I take a month off, then get back to work," he said. "I don't hit until February. I just want to get myself in good shape."
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