Edmonds powers Cards in finale
07/20/2006
ST. LOUIS -- As one of the biggest storms in recent memory raced through St. Louis, Chris Carpenter stood in the bowels of Busch Stadium, calling his family.
"I was trying to call my wife, but couldn't get through," he said. "Finally, I talked to a friend who said our house lost power and my wife and my kids went to a hotel for the night. They are OK."
Crisis averted, the reigning National League Cy Young Award winner waited out a two-hour, 12-minute rain delay before tossing another gem, pitching seven strong innings as the Cardinals defeated the Braves, 8-3, on Wednesday night at Busch Stadium. The victory kept the Redbirds 3 1/2 games ahead of the Reds in the NL Central.
"It was tough, because he had a long delay, but he definitely stepped up," Braden Looper said. "You don't want to say it, but it is almost like he is supposed to do it. He is your guy, and he is definitely one of the best starting pitchers I have ever been around. He got a big win for us today."
Coming off a two-hit shutout on Friday and a NL Player of the Week Award on Monday, Carpenter improved to 9-4 overall and lowered his season ERA to 2.83. At home, he has been nearly unhittable, compiling a 4-2 record and a NL-best 1.43 ERA at the new Busch Stadium.
At first, though, it never seemed Carpenter would get a chance to pitch. The powerful storm had threatened to cancel the game. More than 300,000 homes were without power, 30 people were injured at the stadium and the field tarp was torn. In the dugout, players walked through water that came up to their ankles.
"I can't remember a storm like that in St. Louis," manager Tony La Russa said.
Carpenter was three pitches away from completing his warmup when umpires suspended the game. More than two hours later, he was finally on the mound for the start of the contest.
"This has never happened to me before," he said. "Go out and get loose, and then go sit back down and then do it again without pitching in the game, so I didn't know what to expect. The second time out, I went out there and threw about a third of the pitches that I usually throw, and I felt good and was ready to go."
The Braves nicked Carpenter for a first-inning run on an Andruw Jones single, but the reigning NL Cy Young Award winner dominated after that, retiring 15 of the next 17 hitters he faced.
"We were going against Mr. Cy Young tonight and he looked like Cy Young to me," Braves manager Bobby Cox said.
Making his 10th start at home, Carpenter stopped a Braves team that had scored in double figures in five straight games, matching a record set by the 1930 New York Yankees of Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig.
"He didn't throw many pitches down the middle and didn't give him too much to hit," La Russa said of his ace.
Carpenter, who has worked at least seven innings in seven of his past eight starts, also helped steady a taxed bullpen that had worked 14 innings in the past three games and a starting rotation that was scorched for 18 earned runs in its last two starts.
"You are just prepared to go out there and pitch," Carpenter said. "I felt like I had really good stuff and I could just go out there and pitch. I threw more of a changeup that I had been working on, and it worked out. All I can control is my job."
The right-hander said his stuff was just as good as his last start -- the two-hit masterpiece against the Dodgers. La Russa, though, pulled him after seven innings and an economical 77 pitches. Carpenter never threw more than 15 pitches in a single inning and twice kept his pitch count in single digits for an inning.
"I felt like I could I have gone all nine," Carpenter said.
Meanwhile, the offense provided plenty for the Redbirds' ace, scoring all eight runs in the first five innings. Jim Edmonds provided most of the damage with a three-run shot in the third inning off Braves starter Jason Shiell. The blast marked the third straight game Edmonds has gone out of the park. After a slow start, the center fielder is starting to regain his power stroke, slugging .778 in July.
"I am getting about one good swing a game," he said. "Hopefully I can put a few more of those like that together."
The Cardinals strung a few more baserunners together in the fifth, sending 10 hitters to the plate and scoring four runs.
That was all their ace needed, allowing just a Brian McCann solo homer in the seventh before giving way to four relievers.
Source: http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/
ST. LOUIS -- As one of the biggest storms in recent memory raced through St. Louis, Chris Carpenter stood in the bowels of Busch Stadium, calling his family.
"I was trying to call my wife, but couldn't get through," he said. "Finally, I talked to a friend who said our house lost power and my wife and my kids went to a hotel for the night. They are OK."
Crisis averted, the reigning National League Cy Young Award winner waited out a two-hour, 12-minute rain delay before tossing another gem, pitching seven strong innings as the Cardinals defeated the Braves, 8-3, on Wednesday night at Busch Stadium. The victory kept the Redbirds 3 1/2 games ahead of the Reds in the NL Central.
"It was tough, because he had a long delay, but he definitely stepped up," Braden Looper said. "You don't want to say it, but it is almost like he is supposed to do it. He is your guy, and he is definitely one of the best starting pitchers I have ever been around. He got a big win for us today."
Coming off a two-hit shutout on Friday and a NL Player of the Week Award on Monday, Carpenter improved to 9-4 overall and lowered his season ERA to 2.83. At home, he has been nearly unhittable, compiling a 4-2 record and a NL-best 1.43 ERA at the new Busch Stadium.
At first, though, it never seemed Carpenter would get a chance to pitch. The powerful storm had threatened to cancel the game. More than 300,000 homes were without power, 30 people were injured at the stadium and the field tarp was torn. In the dugout, players walked through water that came up to their ankles.
"I can't remember a storm like that in St. Louis," manager Tony La Russa said.
Carpenter was three pitches away from completing his warmup when umpires suspended the game. More than two hours later, he was finally on the mound for the start of the contest.
"This has never happened to me before," he said. "Go out and get loose, and then go sit back down and then do it again without pitching in the game, so I didn't know what to expect. The second time out, I went out there and threw about a third of the pitches that I usually throw, and I felt good and was ready to go."
The Braves nicked Carpenter for a first-inning run on an Andruw Jones single, but the reigning NL Cy Young Award winner dominated after that, retiring 15 of the next 17 hitters he faced.
"We were going against Mr. Cy Young tonight and he looked like Cy Young to me," Braves manager Bobby Cox said.
Making his 10th start at home, Carpenter stopped a Braves team that had scored in double figures in five straight games, matching a record set by the 1930 New York Yankees of Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig.
"He didn't throw many pitches down the middle and didn't give him too much to hit," La Russa said of his ace.
Carpenter, who has worked at least seven innings in seven of his past eight starts, also helped steady a taxed bullpen that had worked 14 innings in the past three games and a starting rotation that was scorched for 18 earned runs in its last two starts.
"You are just prepared to go out there and pitch," Carpenter said. "I felt like I had really good stuff and I could just go out there and pitch. I threw more of a changeup that I had been working on, and it worked out. All I can control is my job."
The right-hander said his stuff was just as good as his last start -- the two-hit masterpiece against the Dodgers. La Russa, though, pulled him after seven innings and an economical 77 pitches. Carpenter never threw more than 15 pitches in a single inning and twice kept his pitch count in single digits for an inning.
"I felt like I could I have gone all nine," Carpenter said.
Meanwhile, the offense provided plenty for the Redbirds' ace, scoring all eight runs in the first five innings. Jim Edmonds provided most of the damage with a three-run shot in the third inning off Braves starter Jason Shiell. The blast marked the third straight game Edmonds has gone out of the park. After a slow start, the center fielder is starting to regain his power stroke, slugging .778 in July.
"I am getting about one good swing a game," he said. "Hopefully I can put a few more of those like that together."
The Cardinals strung a few more baserunners together in the fifth, sending 10 hitters to the plate and scoring four runs.
That was all their ace needed, allowing just a Brian McCann solo homer in the seventh before giving way to four relievers.
Source: http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/
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