Chris Carpenter delivers a pitch against the Dodgers. UPI/Bill Greenblatt
To say Chris Carpenter hardly broke a sweat would be a flat out lie. If you looked at his pitching line you would think he breezed through is 7-1 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers, but the fact is, he went eight innings in 90 degree heat going through six jerseys, four hats and numerous under shirts on his way to his 10th win.
The numbers were impressive. Carpenter allowed just one run on four hits, an Andre Ethier homer in the fourth was Carpenter’s lone mistake. He didn’t allow any walks and struck out six.
Meanwhile, the Cardinals took their hacks against Dodgers’ starter Clayton Kershaw, touching him for five runs, four earned on eight hits and three walks in 4.1 innings. Two of those walks came to the first two batters, Felipe Lopez and Colby Rasmus. An Albert Pujols single loaded the bases with nobody out and the Cardinals got two runs on the board on a couple of ground outs.
The Cardinals got two more runs in the fourth, when Yadier Molina singled and advanced on an error by Manny Ramirez. Molina then scored on a pop up single by Aaron Miles, who later scored on a Lopez double.
Pujols then doubled, a part of his 3 for 5 night and scored on a sac fly from Allen Craig in the fifth. The Cardinals added two more insurance runs in the seventh.