It wasn’t as bad as his line score may look and there is no need to panic.  Chris Carpenter will be just fine after yesterday’s 4.2 innings and four runs given up in the Cardinals 5-3 loss to the Minnesota Twins.

Carpenter gave up seven hits and two walks, but at least three of those hits were not very hard and one was an infield single that led to a big inning.  The upside to Carpenter’s appearance was that he also struck out seven hitters.

As the Cardinals come down to the final week of spring training, there are still two big issues that need to be resolved.  The first is third base.  It appears that David Freese has the inside track over Joe Mather.  Freese had four hits and a couple of RBIs this weekend.  He even played first base yesterday while Mather covered third.  Mather had two hits to break out of a 1 for 28 slump, but will it be enough to overtake Freese. 

The other pressing issue for manager Tony LaRussa is the final right handed spot in the bullpen.  It appeared a couple of weeks ago, Chris Perez would be in Memphis, but he has bounced back from shoulder discomfort early in the spring to have two good back to back outings.  LaRussa will carry five righties to go with Dennys Reyes and Trever Miller from the left side.  Joining Perez in that battle from the right side is Jason Motte, Ryan Franklin, Kyle McClellan, Josh Kinney and Brad Thompson. 

One of those pitchers will be left out.  Right now, I’m figuring McClellan will be the odd man out.  He’s struggled this spring giving up another earned run in two innings on Saturday.  His ERA is 9.69.