Pete Kozma is starting at shortstop for the Cardinals in Game 1 of the NLCS. He's now started four straight games, as he appears to have officially overtaken Daniel Descalso as Mike Matheny's preferred option at short. Kozma batted .400/.455/.500 during the NLDS and made a few nice plays in the field.

Pete Kozma is starting at shortstop in NLDS Game 5 on Wednesday night against the Pirates. That's now three straight starts for Kozma, who sat often toward the end of the regular season in favor of Daniel Descalso. Descalso is on the bench. The full St. Louis lineup: Matt Carpenter 2B, Carlos Beltran RF, Matt Holliday LF, Matt Adams 1B, Yadier Molina C, Jon Jay CF, David Freese 3B, Pete Kozma SS, Adam Wainwright SP.

Pete Kozma is starting at shortstop for the Cardinals in Game 4 of the NLDS versus the Pirates. Kozma was 2-for-3 with a walk, a stolen base and a run scored in the Cardinals' Game 3 loss on Sunday, so he'll get the nod again in Game 4 Monday against Charlie Morton. Daniel Descalso is on the bench. The full St. Louis lineup: Matt Carpenter 2B, Carlos Beltran RF, Matt Holliday LF, Matt Adams 1B, Yadier Molina C, Jon Jay CF, David Freese 3B, Pete Kozma SS, Michael Wacha SP.

Pete Kozma had a nice night at the dish in Sunday's loss to the Pirates in Game 3 of the NLDS, going 2-for-3 with a walk, run scored and stolen base. Unfortunately, aside from Kozma and Carlos Beltran, the rest of the Cardinals offense struggled to produce against Francisco Liriano and company. It was Kozma's first game played in the series, after Daniel Descalso got the call at shortstop against opposing right-handers in the first two games of the series.

Pete Kozma is starting at shortstop for Sunday's Game 3 against the Pirates. With left-hander Francisco Liriano on the mound, Kozma gets the call over Daniel Descalso. He was actually worse against southpaws this season, sporting a pathetic .184/.280/.256 batting line.

Pete Kozma singled, stole a base, and scored two runs in a 2-1 win over the Mariners in 10 innings on Friday. Kozma didn't start the game, but that didn't stop him from making a major impact. After entering the game as a pinch-runner in the eighth inning, he stole third base and scored the tying run. He later singled with two outs in the 10th inning and scored the winning run after Mariners catcher Mike Zunino failed to handle a pitch to Matt Holliday.

Pete Kozma started his third consecutive game on Tuesday. Just when it appeared that the recently-recalled Ryan Jackson might steal his job (or at least lift all of his at-bats against southpaws), Kozma finally got hot. He extended his hitting streak to four games on Tuesday and has gone 5-for-12 (.417) in that span. "He knows that we've had confidence in him," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. "It's something that we've continued to try and show to him and that he sees it on a consistent basis whether things are going well or not." Matheny may eschew a traditional platoon in favor of a "hot hand" approach to the position. The skipper has said he'll continue to find at-bats for Daniel Descalso and Jackson.

Pete Kozma went 2-for-3 with a walk, double and two runs scored in the Cardinals' victory over the Pirates on Sunday in St. Louis. Kozma hit safely in all three games of St. Louis' weekend sweep of the Pirates, a much-needed offensive pick-me-up for a player fighting to keep his job. Kozma, a defensive whiz, is still batting only .218/.276/.275. Ryan Jackson is expected to steal some of his at-bats against southpaws over the next three weeks.

Pete Kozma went 0-for-3 in the Cardinals' loss to the Pirates on Wednesday in St. Louis. Kozma is now batting .226/.275/.285 in 110 games this year and there is no light at the end of the tunnel. It might be time for the Cards to give Ryan Jackson a try.

Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said Wednesday that he hasn't given up on Pete Kozma. Daniel Descalso has started at shortstop over Kozma in five of the Cardinals' past six games, but Kozma should be back in there Thursday. "You can't complain for one second what we've seen (defensively) from Pete Kozma," Matheny told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "And we can't forget either a lot of the big hits that he's had."