Giants catcher Posey wins NL batting crown

LOS ANGELES -- Buster Posey has gone from missing most of last season after a violent collision at home plate to winning the NL batting title.

And the San Francisco Giants are headed to the playoffs as NL West champions.

The 25-year-old catcher went 0-for-2 in a 5-1 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday, finishing with a .336 average to claim the title. He's the first Giant to win it since Barry Bonds in 2004 and the first Giants catcher ever. The only catcher ever to win the National League title was Boston's Ernie Lombardi, who hit .330 in 1942.

"I don't think it's something that you ever think about doing," Posey said. "It's such a long season, and from Day 1, you try to grind out at-bats no matter what the situation is. And if you can go up there and are able to make some adjustments, good things will happen."

In May 2011, Posey's left leg was broken and three ankle ligaments were torn on a horrific collision at the plate with Florida's Scott Cousins.

"I give a lot of credit to our entire training staff for all the work they did in the offseason to get me back on the field," he said. "Even though this is an individual accomplishment, there's other people who deserve credit."

Posey credited the 29 starts he made at first base for helping him endure the 162-game season.

"That reprieve you get over there at first base does make a difference because it is a grind," he said. "You're going to take foul balls and just sitting back in the crouch for three hours every night wears on you."

The Giants finished at 94-68, including 46-35 on the road.

"We really didn't know how much we could play him, and he exceeded our expectations," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "To do what he did this year and win a batting title after coming off that devastating injury, it's truly amazing.

"It shows you what a talent he is and how hard he worked to get back into playing condition."

Clay Hensley (4-5) gave up one run and two hits in one inning to take the loss for the Giants, who open the NL division series Saturday against Cincinnati.

Giants starter Ryan Vogelsong allowed one run on two hits in five innings, struck out seven and walked one. He retired his first 10 batters.

"It was a little bit of a roller-coaster — really good, to really bad, back to pretty good again," the right-hander said of his season. "Today was probably the best I've thrown the ball all season, location-wise. I didn't miss many pitches.

"Mentally, I decided to take today like it was a playoff game. Obviously, I've never been in a playoff game before, so I tried to prep myself a little bit."

Vogelsong would rather start during the playoffs than work out of the bullpen. "But at this point, it's not about me. It's about us," he said. "If the decision is that I'm going to the bullpen for the playoffs is best for us, then that's what I'm going to do."

Clayton Kershaw finished with a major league-leading 2.53 ERA. The reigning NL Cy Young Award winner had 229 strikeouts, one behind NL leader R.A. Dickey of the New York Mets. Kershaw was first pitcher to lead the league in ERA in consecutive seasons since Arizona's Randy Johnson in 2001-02.