SAN FRANCISCO — Ryan Vogelsong was an afterthought when he reported to spring training for the San Francisco Giants last season. He had been there a decade earlier, before a worldwide adventure of injury, rejection and mediocrity, and the Giants had just won the World Series.

But to Dave Righetti, the Giants’ longtime pitching coach, Vogelsong stood out. It was not so much his stuff, which was not too different from what it had been in 2001, when the Giants traded him to the Pittsburgh Pirates. It was his attitude.

“He wasn’t messing around,” Righetti said Sunday night, after Vogelsong brought the Giants to the verge of the National League pennant. “He came to camp to win a job, and he never changed his demeanor. These are tedious days, and guys look at him and go, ‘This guy wants it bad.’ ”

The St. Louis Cardinals know the look. They have seen it twice in this N.L. Championship Series, falling to Vogelsong in Games 2 and 6. Both times, he allowed one run in seven innings, and on Sunday, in a 6-1 victory, he set a career high in strikeouts, with nine.