For a moment, Cardinals Nation let out a collective “OH NO!” when they saw trainer Barry Weinberg come out to the mound to check on Chris Carpenter. He exited the game in the sixth inning when he started running into trouble. He called out Yadier Molina on his 65th pitch of the game.The Cardinals are calling it a triceps strain and may not be as bad as originally feared. Carpenter after the game told stlcardinals.com that he went through his normal exercises and felt nothing wrong with his elbow or shoulder.Carpenter left Chicago with the team on their way to a key Wild Card showdown with the Florida Marlins. He’ll throw a bullpen on Tuesday if he feels alright, then may try to start without missing time.As far as the game, up until that sixth inning Carpenter was pitching well. After he left the game, two costly errors led to a five run sixth inning breaking up a 1-0 game. Ron Villone gave up a ground ball to Jim Edmonds that got past Cesar Izturis and then Brad Thompson who has struggled of late went an inning and two thirds giving up two more runs on three hits.The Cardinals picked up a couple of runs in the seventh chasing Ryan Dempster who is 13-5 on the year and is now 11-2 at Wrigley Field. The Cardinals play the Marlins tonight in a tight Wild Card race.NL StandingsChicago –Milwaukee 4 GBSt. Louis 7 GBWild CardMilwaukee –St. Louis 3 GBNew York 4.5 GBFlorida 5 GB
