From a SI article last October:
THE CARDINALS did not set out this spring to become the greatest clutch team in history. They did set out to improve their approach at the plate, after going 21--26 in one-run games in 2012—"Winning one-run games is all about situational hitting," says Mabry—and enduring long stretches in which the offense sputtered.
In the early days of spring training, the St. Louis coaching staff held situational hitting tournaments, assigning points to players for moving runners from second to third or for getting hits with the infield in. Every so often Mabry would have his hitters imagine how a postseason series in October could end: "Men on second and third—bring 'em home, and we win the pennant!"
The Cardinals don't see themselves as a clutch-hitting lineup, they see themselves as a lineup of disciplined hitters who control the strike zone and tailor their approaches to different situations. "Their approach is impressive," says Dombrowski. "You'd see them all the time getting the big hit, and where do they get most of their hits? The opposite field."
Indeed, much of what we think of as clutch hitting could be considered smart situational hitting. In Game 1 against the Rays, Boston's Jonny Gomes stepped to the plate after Tampa Bay rightfielder Wil Myers's misplay of an Ortiz fly ball put runners on second and third with one out. "Runner on third, less than two outs, that's something Jonny works on every day during BP," says Red Sox hitting coach Greg Colbrunn. "In those situations Jonny has a plan."
Gomes was a .247 hitter during the season, but with runners in scoring position he had a .346 average and a .543 slugging percentage. This time he lofted a high fly ball that scraped the Green Monster for a two-run double, sparking a Boston rally that turned a 2--0 deficit into a 5--2 lead. "You do have to change your swing [for] the situation," Gomes said later. "I was definitely looking to elevate the ball."