Stanley snaps slump with five-hit night

A brief cameo in the Major Leagues showed Cody Stanley just how close he is to making his dreams a reality. Now he wants to make sure he's completely ready when that call comes again.

The Cardinals' No. 24 prospect busted out of a 1-for-17 slump with a career-best five-hit night, driving in four runs and helping Triple-A Memphis rolled past Colorado Springs, 15-1, on Saturday night at Security Service Field.

"I have no clue when the last time I've done that was," Stanley said after the Redbirds totaled a season-high 22 hits. "Maybe high school, I don't know. Maybe college. It's just a good feeling living in the moment and, hopefully, I can continue going forward."

Stanley started his night on a high note when he roped a two-run double to left field in the top of the first. An inning later, he lined a single to right to drive in another run and scored when Nick Martini reached on second baseman Luis Sardinas' error.

Memphis' backstop added a single to center in the fifth, another to right that drove home a run in the seventh and one more to center in the ninth.

"I've struggled up to this point in the season, just been searching for that approach and swing to put it together in a game," he said. "I've been working with our hitting coach, Mark Budaska, and we've been trying to fight through some things. I've kept my same approach that I've had over this past year. Finally, my swing has come together with that and I'm feeling good the past few weeks, hitting the ball hard, just straight at people. I'm starting to find those holes and, hopefully I can keep that together and keep swinging it well."

Stanley's performance surpassed his previous career high of four hits in a game, set most recently last Aug. 8 with Double-A Springfield. It also helped end a drought of 16 games without a multi-hit performance.

"We get our work in before the game and during the day, but once game time comes, you've got to free your mind. You can't think of any of that," he said. "That's the point I'm at now -- I finally stopped thinking about it. I was worried about what everybody was thinking. I'm just not getting those hits or hitting those holes. Once you stop thinking about that and let your approach and your swing do all the work, it usually starts to work out for you."

At the end of April, Stanley received his first call to the big leagues and madet three appearances as a pinch-hitter for the Cardinals, going 1-for-3 with a single and a run scored. The brief taste of "The Show" showed the 26-year-old that another call to St. Louis could come at any moment.

"It can happen any time," he said. "Obviously, it's not something you want to happen, but if somebody goes down, you could be that next call. If you're swinging it well, you could be that next call or you could just be that next call for some other reason. You really never know. That's how close you are. I've never seen this many guys come up and down at one time in my whole entire life. I've heard about it before, and I'm actually seeing it with my own eyes now."

Memphis plated 12 runs across the first two innings, and every Redbird had a hit by the end of the second. Memphis was 10-for-22 with runners in scoring position.

"We've always been that kind of team where we just piggyback off of each other. That's exactly what we did tonight," Stanley said. "A couple of guys were swinging it well and driving in runs, and then we'd move the next runner up and hit a single or double to drive another guy in. That's what it takes is keeping the line moving. We certainly did that tonight."

The ample run support didn't make starter Zach Petrick (5-4) slack off. Over 7 2/3 innings, he allowed a run on six hits while striking out four. The right-hander was unfazed by some long innings in the dugout while his offense worked nor a 33-minute rain delay at the outset.

"You put all those together and you start to realize how mentally strong he was tonight," Stanley said. "That's how he's been in the last few outings. He's super locked in and knows what he wants to do when he gets on the mound. He prepares his body and mind the right way, and he steps on there and nobody's going to beat him."