St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Chris Carpenter, who hasn’t thrown in a big league game since April, 2007, threw four scoreless innings in his first minor league rehab start since having season ending Tommy John surgery on his right elbow last July.
Carpenter got a standing ovation from the crowd at Hammons Field when he walked from the dugout to the clubhouse after finishing his outing. He threw 62 pitches, 33 were strikes. He allowed one hit, walked four and struck out four. Carpenter says he was disappointed with his command, but felt no pain.
The Springfield Cardinals, who are now in 1st place in the Texas League north division second half standings, beat the Northwest Arkansas Naturals 4-1 before 8,743 fans, the largest crowd of 2008. Third baseman Allen Craig had three hits, including a solo home run over the left field wall in the sixth to tie the game 1-1. The Cardinals broke the tie with a three run eighth inning, highlighted by a solo homer by shortstop Tyler Greene.