Pitching and defense give Pirates a real shot at postseason

But before you downgrade the guy for often making two outs with one swing, you should know he has been a superb clutch hitter for St. Louis this year.

Tom Verducci|

But before you downgrade the guy for often making two outs with one swing, you should know he has been a superb clutch hitter for St. Louis this year. Holliday is hitting .203 with the bases empty, but he is hitting .341 with runners on, .361 with runners in scoring position and .375 with runners in scoring position and two outs.

Published Jun 28, 2013 | Modified Jun 28, 2013

TOM VERDUCCI

Tom Verducci is a senior writer for Sports Illustrated who has covered Major League Baseball since 1981. He also serves as an analyst for FOX Sports and the MLB Network; is a New York Times best-selling author; and cohosts The Book of Joe podcast with Joe Maddon. A five-time Emmy Award winner across three categories (studio analyst, reporter, short form writing) and nominated in a fourth (game analyst), he is a three-time National Sportswriter of the Year winner, two-time National Magazine Award finalist, and a Penn State Distinguished Alumnus Award recipient. Verducci is a member of the National Sports Media Hall of Fame, Baseball Writers Association of America (including past New York chapter chairman) and a Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 1993. He also is the only writer to be a game analyst for World Series telecasts. He lives in New Jersey with his wife, with whom he has two children.

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