News
Bats support Carpenter as Cards roll
Rasmus' two-run roundtripper in first inning sparks offense
By Matthew Leach / MLB.com
07/05/09 6:34 PM ET
CINCINNATI -- A few more days like this, and Chris Carpenter might have made it four Cardinals on the 2009 National League All-Star team.Carpenter finally got some run support on Sunday, and he took full advantage. He and the Cardinals breezed to a 10-1 win over the Reds in the rubber game of a weekend series at Great American Ball Park. St. Louis regained sole possession of first place in the NL Central, leading the Brewers by a game in advance of a three-game series against Milwaukee at Miller Park that starts on Tuesday.
"It was a wonderful way to win the rubber game, to have our big guy step up and really shut them down," manager Tony La Russa said.
Albert Pujols, Yadier Molina and Ryan Franklin were all named to the NL All-Star team shortly after the game started, but Carpenter did not make the squad -- likely due in large part to his only having five wins entering the day. Carpenter was named to the All-Star team in 2005 and '06, the last two seasons in which he was healthy at midseason.
But it's not because of his pitching that Carpenter's win total is that low. He's been brilliant all year, just as he was on Sunday. He simply hasn't gotten the help from his offense that he deserves. Sunday marked the third time in 12 starts this year that the Cards have scored more than three runs for Carpenter. Five times, they've been held to two or fewer runs with the former Cy Young Award winner on the mound.
On Sunday, though, there was no such difficulty. Colby Rasmus got the visitors going quickly with a two-run homer in the first inning. Molina and Carpenter each singled home a run in the fourth, and the Redbirds tacked on four runs in the fifth thanks to a two-run throwing error by Reds third baseman Edwin Encarnacion and two sacrifice flies.
"That was the idea," Molina said. "Give him some runs and you see what he can do."
All the while, Carpenter (6-3) rolled. Coming off his first truly rocky start of the year, the right-hander was his usual efficient, precise self. He allowed five hits and one walk while striking out five in beating the Reds for the second time this year.
The only scare for the Cardinals (45-39) came in the third inning. With the Cardinals holding a 2-0 lead, Cincinnati scratched out two singles to open the frame. Bronson Arroyo's (8-8) sacrifice bunt put runners on second and third with one out and the top of the order coming to the plate. But Carpenter got a popup from Chris Dickerson and a comebacker from Willy Taveras, and he escaped unscathed.
"I'm thinking, 'Make pitches [in that situation],'" Carpenter said. "If I make pitches, that avoids big innings. And I was able to make pitches."
From there, he had little trouble. A fourth-inning walk was erased on a strike-him-out-throw-him-out double play when Molina gunned down Brandon Phillips trying to steal second. Jerry Hairston Jr. managed an infield hit in the fifth, but Ryan Hanigan followed him by hitting into a more conventional double play. Jay Bruce's RBI triple got the Reds (40-40) on the board in the seventh, but by that time the game was out of reach.
"You've still got to go out and pitch," Carpenter said of working with such a big lead. "You've got to go out and execute pitches. Because when you've got an offensive team like them, they can go out and put something together pretty quick if you lose your concentration. So you've got to go out and execute."
Carpenter's ERA dropped to 2.32, which would rank third in the NL if he had enough innings to qualify.
Matthew Leach is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
