"Whether he was readying himself for an everyday role or the sporadic life of a pinch hitter, Cardinals outfielder Allen Craig found a formula this past offseason to improve his swing for any at-bat made available.

Drive two hours for every one hour in the batting cage.

Repeat as needed.

A few weeks after the end of last season, Craig texted hitting coach Mark McGwire to see if he could join him for batting instruction. Craig commuted three times a week, an hour each way, to spend 60 minutes refining his swing.

"It's not easy to break old habits," Craig said. "That's why I drove there. I wanted to be with him just to get his eyes on me and get his immediate input as much as possible."

The immediate impact has been worth the mileage.

As the Cardinals have groped for runs in the first week of the season, Craig has kept one position a constant source of production. With left fielder Matt Holliday recovering from an appendectomy, Craig has driven in a team-high four of the Cardinals' 15 runs. As they open a 10-game trip this afternoon in San Francisco, the Cardinals left fielders have the highest average (.409) and fourth-best slugging (.545) in the National League. Craig hasn't flubbed a line as the understudy.

"Unfortunately, I've had that chance since Matt went down," Craig said. "It's been good for me to have a good spring and get to play early on and keep that groove. So when Matt comes back and I'm in that bench role again I'll have the game experience to build on.""