Carpenter hurls a one-hit gem
TORONTO -- The native son delivered the lead. The prodigal son made it stand up.
Two men with Canadian connections helped make winners of the Cardinals at the Rogers Centre on Tuesday night, with Larry Walker hitting a pair of home runs and Chris Carpenter pitching his finest game of the year. St. Louis defeated Toronto, 7-0, to even this three-game Interleague series at 1-1.
Walker, who hinted strongly on Monday that he will retire at the end of the season, showed what he can still do on a good night. Previously 0-for-10 lifetime in Toronto, the native of Maple Ridge, British Columbia, went deep in the first and again in the fifth, driving in four of the visitors' seven runs. He became just the fourth Canadian-born player to hit a home run at the stadium formerly known as SkyDome.
Carpenter, who spent his first six big league seasons with Toronto, dominated from the start and was never seriously threatened. He didn't allow a hit for 5 2/3 innings, striking out 10 in his second complete game and second shutout of the year. The right-hander needed a mere 95 pitches to go the distance.
Though he just missed throwing the 10th Cardinals no-hitter, Carpenter did deliver the first one-hitter of his career and the 19th one-hit complete game in franchise history. The last pitcher to turn in such a gem was Vicente Palacios, who did so on July 19, 1994, against the Astros. Carpenter faced 28 batters, one over the minimum.
"I was thinking about [a no-hitter], no question about it," said Carpenter. "I thought I had a chance. My stuff was good, and I thought that I kept them off balance pretty good. It just seemed like it was one of those nights where some of the mistakes I made, they swung and missed or popped it up, and besides that, I was making good pitches."
After Reed Johnson opened the game with a groundout, Carpenter fanned the next five batters in order. He surrendered a third-inning walk, but erased that runner on a double play, and faced the minimum until Russ Adams broke up the no-no with a two-out double in the sixth.
Carpenter shook off the two problems that have plagued him at times this season: big innings and left-handed batters. Toronto couldn't even get in position to have a big inning -- the Jays never had multiple base runners in the same frame, and never had a runner in scoring position with fewer than two outs.
As for the lefties, it was a southpaw swinger who got the base knock, but a lineup that had five players swinging from the left side never challenged the big right-hander. He threw sinkers and cut fastballs to both sides of the plate, mixing in an excellent curve as well.
Carpenter in command
St. Louis at Toronto, June 14, 2005
Chris Carpenter (9-4) picked up the victory with his second complete-game shutout of the season (April 21) and 15th complete game of his career. He fanned 10 of the 28 batters he faced to increase his season strikeout total to 93 and career strikeout total to 857, through June 14. Carpenter's previous low was two hits allowed in a nine-inning performance (April 15, 1999). His previous low in a complete-game shutout was three hits (Sept. 9, 1997 and July 3, 1999). His line on Tuesday:
IP H R ER BB SO ERA
9.0 1 0 0 1 10 3.17
Key numbers for Carpenter:
Pitches-strikes: 95-68; Groundouts-flyouts: 10-5;
Season strikeouts-walks: 93-27; WHIP: 1.21
"I had my stuff going right from the get-go," said Carpenter. "My sinker was down in the strike zone. My cutter was good. It was a night where my stuff was good, and we made some nice defensive plays. It was just a well-played game."
Taking every game the same way is a way of life for Carpenter, and he insisted that once he was on the mound, this one was like any other. But he did admit that as his return to Toronto approached, the appearance loomed particularly large.
"There's no question I thought about it," he said. "My wife talked about it. I know people were saying stuff about it. But when that day [came], when I went out and walked to the bullpen, I was mentally prepared to go out and pitch. And that's all I concern myself with."
Walker was prepared as well, thanks in part to 30 minutes of extra hitting early on Tuesday afternoon. He enjoyed his first two-homer game in his native country since 2002, when he was playing for Colorado as a visitor against Montreal.
With two outs and no one on in the first, Jays starter Chad Gaudin hit Albert Pujols with a pitch. Walker immediately made Toronto pay with his first homer of the night, and Reggie Sanders followed with a solo shot that made it 3-0.
"It's gratifying, because you know they did it on purpose," said Walker. "It was obvious. It's gratifying, yeah, to hit a home run and get three runs after there were two out in the inning and they drilled the best guy in the game. I think we all felt good about that."
With his second homer -- which traveled 428 feet into the second deck in left field -- Walker passed Aaron Guiel for third on the list of homers by Canadian players at the Rogers Centre. He still trails Matt Stairs (nine) and Corey Koskie (five).
"I was just told I moved into third place on the Canadian home run list in Toronto," he said. "I've got to catch Stairs and Koskie. I've got some work to do. I've got to hit, like, seven home runs tomorrow to catch up to those guys."
St. Louis improved to 41-23 on the season and kept its lead at 6 1/2 games over the Cubs in the National League Central. The Cardinals haven't lost back-to-back games since dropping three straight May 5-7. With a victory on Wednesday, they will have won nine consecutive Interleague series dating back to 2003.
Source: http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/
Two men with Canadian connections helped make winners of the Cardinals at the Rogers Centre on Tuesday night, with Larry Walker hitting a pair of home runs and Chris Carpenter pitching his finest game of the year. St. Louis defeated Toronto, 7-0, to even this three-game Interleague series at 1-1.
Walker, who hinted strongly on Monday that he will retire at the end of the season, showed what he can still do on a good night. Previously 0-for-10 lifetime in Toronto, the native of Maple Ridge, British Columbia, went deep in the first and again in the fifth, driving in four of the visitors' seven runs. He became just the fourth Canadian-born player to hit a home run at the stadium formerly known as SkyDome.
Carpenter, who spent his first six big league seasons with Toronto, dominated from the start and was never seriously threatened. He didn't allow a hit for 5 2/3 innings, striking out 10 in his second complete game and second shutout of the year. The right-hander needed a mere 95 pitches to go the distance.
Though he just missed throwing the 10th Cardinals no-hitter, Carpenter did deliver the first one-hitter of his career and the 19th one-hit complete game in franchise history. The last pitcher to turn in such a gem was Vicente Palacios, who did so on July 19, 1994, against the Astros. Carpenter faced 28 batters, one over the minimum.
"I was thinking about [a no-hitter], no question about it," said Carpenter. "I thought I had a chance. My stuff was good, and I thought that I kept them off balance pretty good. It just seemed like it was one of those nights where some of the mistakes I made, they swung and missed or popped it up, and besides that, I was making good pitches."
After Reed Johnson opened the game with a groundout, Carpenter fanned the next five batters in order. He surrendered a third-inning walk, but erased that runner on a double play, and faced the minimum until Russ Adams broke up the no-no with a two-out double in the sixth.
Carpenter shook off the two problems that have plagued him at times this season: big innings and left-handed batters. Toronto couldn't even get in position to have a big inning -- the Jays never had multiple base runners in the same frame, and never had a runner in scoring position with fewer than two outs.
As for the lefties, it was a southpaw swinger who got the base knock, but a lineup that had five players swinging from the left side never challenged the big right-hander. He threw sinkers and cut fastballs to both sides of the plate, mixing in an excellent curve as well.
Carpenter in command
St. Louis at Toronto, June 14, 2005
Chris Carpenter (9-4) picked up the victory with his second complete-game shutout of the season (April 21) and 15th complete game of his career. He fanned 10 of the 28 batters he faced to increase his season strikeout total to 93 and career strikeout total to 857, through June 14. Carpenter's previous low was two hits allowed in a nine-inning performance (April 15, 1999). His previous low in a complete-game shutout was three hits (Sept. 9, 1997 and July 3, 1999). His line on Tuesday:
IP H R ER BB SO ERA
9.0 1 0 0 1 10 3.17
Key numbers for Carpenter:
Pitches-strikes: 95-68; Groundouts-flyouts: 10-5;
Season strikeouts-walks: 93-27; WHIP: 1.21
"I had my stuff going right from the get-go," said Carpenter. "My sinker was down in the strike zone. My cutter was good. It was a night where my stuff was good, and we made some nice defensive plays. It was just a well-played game."
Taking every game the same way is a way of life for Carpenter, and he insisted that once he was on the mound, this one was like any other. But he did admit that as his return to Toronto approached, the appearance loomed particularly large.
"There's no question I thought about it," he said. "My wife talked about it. I know people were saying stuff about it. But when that day [came], when I went out and walked to the bullpen, I was mentally prepared to go out and pitch. And that's all I concern myself with."
Walker was prepared as well, thanks in part to 30 minutes of extra hitting early on Tuesday afternoon. He enjoyed his first two-homer game in his native country since 2002, when he was playing for Colorado as a visitor against Montreal.
With two outs and no one on in the first, Jays starter Chad Gaudin hit Albert Pujols with a pitch. Walker immediately made Toronto pay with his first homer of the night, and Reggie Sanders followed with a solo shot that made it 3-0.
"It's gratifying, because you know they did it on purpose," said Walker. "It was obvious. It's gratifying, yeah, to hit a home run and get three runs after there were two out in the inning and they drilled the best guy in the game. I think we all felt good about that."
With his second homer -- which traveled 428 feet into the second deck in left field -- Walker passed Aaron Guiel for third on the list of homers by Canadian players at the Rogers Centre. He still trails Matt Stairs (nine) and Corey Koskie (five).
"I was just told I moved into third place on the Canadian home run list in Toronto," he said. "I've got to catch Stairs and Koskie. I've got some work to do. I've got to hit, like, seven home runs tomorrow to catch up to those guys."
St. Louis improved to 41-23 on the season and kept its lead at 6 1/2 games over the Cubs in the National League Central. The Cardinals haven't lost back-to-back games since dropping three straight May 5-7. With a victory on Wednesday, they will have won nine consecutive Interleague series dating back to 2003.
Source: http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/
