By Morris Phillips

Once again, here come the Giants… one base at a time.

Situational baseball, one base at a time or putting pressure on the defense doesn’t have the magical ring of Mr. October and Reggie Jackson’s multiple home runs, but what the 2014 Giants are doing might ultimately be as memorable with the team now one game away from a third World Series berth in five years.

Regardless of how the Giants are remembered years from now, their methods have been deadly effective in getting past the Pirates and Nationals and now taking a commanding 3-1 lead over the Cardinals in the NLCS after Wednesday’s 6-4 win in Game 4.  Just as effective as Reggie Jackson or Kurt Gibson hitting the ball over the fence.

“If you’re not hitting the long ball, you have to find ways to manufacture runs,” manager Bruce Bochy said.

“We’ve been doing a lot of the little things right,” Brandon Crawford said.  “They kind of go unnoticed.  People think we’re getting lucky or whatever.  We are putting pressure on teams by doing the little things right.  By running the bases well, by getting bunts down, by playing good defense.”

Crawford’s assessment couldn’t have been more spot on, but the Giants’ methods haven’t gone unnoticed.  In fact, the pressure brought by Giants’ persistent ways has forced the Cardinals into repeated mistakes.  St. Louis first baseman Matt Adams made a pair of gaffes in the Giants’ three-run rally in the sixth that allowed them to fully recover from an early 4-1 deficit.

With runners at second and third, one out and Gregor Blanco at bat, Blanco’s chopper was flawlessly fielded by Adams charging in.  But then Adams eschewed the sure out at first, and threw a poor, one-hopper to the plate just as Juan Perez slide in behind the poor throw with the tying run.

Then on Joe Panik’s one hopper with runners at first and third, Adams again fielded the ball cleanly, touched the bag for one out, but then threw slow and wildly to second base in a failed attempt to double up Blanco. Had Adams noticed Crawford wandering too far off third, he could have attempted to record a second out there.  Instead, his poor throw allowed Crawford to race home with another Giants’ run.

“The play at home, there’s a fast runner at third and I was going in on the ball and threw on the run,” Adams recalled.  “Just should’ve made the throw, though.  The second one, I should’ve just touched first and checked home.”

Buster Posey followed Adams’ gaffes with a clean, RBI single and the Giants were on their way with their bullpen all set and capable to protect a two-run lead in the final three innings.

Bochy first called on Jeremy Affeldt in the seventh and he recorded a pair of outs.  But when Jean Machi allowed Matt Holliday’s single, the manager summoned left-handed specialist Javier Lopez who retired Adams on a ground out with a pair of runners aboard.

Sergio Romo retired the Cardinals in the eighth, and Santiago Casilla recorded the save in a near-perfect ninth.

Ryan Vogelsong got the start for the Giants, but only lasted three innings in which the Cardinals scored runs in all three and took their, short-lived 4-1 lead.  But the Giants answered in the bottom of the third with run-scoring base hits from Posey and Hunter Pence to climb back within a run.

That early rally, along with three innings of terrific relief pitching from long man Yusmeiro Petit, set up the Giants for their game-winning surge in the sixth.  Petit was flawless, allowing just one hit and striking out four in his extended stint that bridged the gap to the back end of the Giants’ bullpen.

After falling behind 4-1, six Giants relievers saw action and the Cardinals were held scoreless over the final six innings of the game.

The Giants now have ace Madison Bumgarner set for a possible series-clinching Game 5, but the team’s mood afterward was anything but giddy.  It was just two years ago that the Giants recovered from a 3-1 deficit, and shocked the Cardinals on their way to the World Series.  This time, the Giants know the tables could be turned if they’re not careful.

“If we don’t come out and play good baseball, they’re going to take advantage of that and they can definitely get back in the series,” Brandon Belt said.

“It’s definitely going to be a dogfight,” Crawford said warily.

Bumgarner faces St. Louis ace Adam Wainwright in Game 5 starting at 5:07pm.  Bumgarner bested Wainwright in Game 1, pitching 7 2/3 innings in the Giants 3-0 victory.