Chris Carpenter took it upon himself to get
the Cardinals back on track.
The St. Louis ace hit a grand slam and set a team record for
pitchers by driving in six runs as the Cardinals rolled to a 13-0
rout of the Cincinnati Reds on Thursday.
"That was one of the funner days I've ever had," Carpenter
said.
Carpenter's first career homer capped a five-run second inning
for the Cardinals, who had lost five of six - including three
straight since clinching the NL Central title with a win at
Colorado last Saturday. He added a two-run double during a four-run
fifth to match the career RBI total he brought into the game.
The right-hander also threw five innings of three-hit ball for
his 17th win and first in four starts since a 3-0, complete-game
victory at Milwaukee on Sept. 7.
Carpenter's grand slam was the 10th by a Cardinals pitcher and
first since Kent Mercker connected at Florida on Sept. 2, 1998.
The previous major league pitcher to hit a grand slam was Jason
Marquis for the Chicago Cubs off New York Mets left-hander Jonathon
Niese on Sept. 22, 2008, at Shea Stadium, according to STATS LLC.
The last pitcher to have six RBIs in a game was Micah Owings for
Arizona at Atlanta on Aug. 18, 2007, STATS said. Owings now pitches
for the Reds.
Carpenter predicted his homer, manager Tony La Russa said.
"I've predicted it four or five times," Carpenter said. "I
think the only other home run I hit had to be in high school. I was
a really good hitter, I guess, but I grew up in New Hampshire, and
we didn't see many 90 mph fastballs."
Carpenter became the first Cardinals pitcher since 1920, when
RBIs became an official statistic, to have six in one game. Bob
Gibson drove in five runs during a 13-1 win over the New York Mets
on July 26, 1973.
"He had a Bob Gibson type of day," Reds manager Dusty Baker
said. "He beat us pitching and hitting. That grand slam kind of
put us behind the 8-ball."
And left La Russa joking about it after the game.
"The first thing I'm going to do is call Gibson and tell him
what a real athlete is," he said. "That was the last thing I
expected."
La Russa also snapped a tie with Hall of Fame New York Giants
manager John McGraw for second place on the career list of games
managed. La Russa is at 4,770, behind only Connie Mack's 7,755.
The Cardinals scored their most runs in a game since setting
their season high in a 14-7 win over Pittsburgh on Sept. 4. The win
was their biggest of the season, surpassing a 10-0 victory over the
Los Angeles Dodgers on July 28.
"They beat us up pretty good," Baker said. "That's the first
time we've been beat up that bad in a while. They had every kind of
hit imaginable."
Carpenter (17-4), who struck out six and walked one, has won his
last five starts against the Reds, including all four this season.
Third baseman Troy Glaus, who had shoulder surgery on Jan. 21
and wasn't activated until Sept. 1 before missing another 16 days
with a side injury, got the scoring started in the second with a
run-scoring single - his first RBI this season.
Yadier Molina, who had been out since Saturday with a bruised
left knee, singled and Brendan Ryan was hit by a pitch to load the
bases for Carpenter, who had one RBI this season before lining the
first pitch from Kip Wells an estimated 381 feet into the
left-field seats.
"(Wells) tried to get the ball over the plate and it ended up
in the seats," Baker said.
Wells (2-5) lasted two batters into the third inning. The
right-hander was roughed up for five hits and five runs with one
walk and one strikeout before being replaced by Owings.
Owings got Cincinnati's first hit off Carpenter with a one-out,
opposite-field double to right in the third. The plate appearance
was the first for Owings since he was hit in the helmet by a pitch
Sept. 6 at Atlanta, leaving him with a concussion and punctured
eardrum.
The game was delayed for 9 minutes in the top of the second when
plate umpire Brian O'Nora came out of the game with an injured
right knee. Wells bounced a pitch that got past catcher Corky
Miller and hit O'Nora on the inside of his knee. Adrian Johnson
moved from first base to behind the plate, and the game continued
with three umpires.
NOTES: The Cardinals have 11 shutout wins this season. The Reds
were blanked for the sixth time. ... Cardinals 1B Albert Pujols was
a late addition to the starting lineup after originally being
scheduled for a day off while getting over a cold.
