ST. LOUIS (BaseballStL) – It is unbelievable to imagine that a pitcher, who was ruled out for the rest of the season due to a shoulder injury, only to return early and be called upon to lead his team to clinch the final wild-card spot. At the same time, that is what Cardinals fans have come to expect out of Chris Carpenter.
In his third start since missing 150 games, Carpenter allowed three runs on seven hits in six innings pitched. He also struck out seven batters which moved him into third place in strikeouts in Cardinals history. He passed Bob Forsch who struck out 1,079 batters in his Cardinals career. Carpenter now has 1,085 strikeouts as a Cardinal.
A solo home run hit by Scott Rolen in the fourth inning and two runs allowed in the sixth spoiled the strong start from Carpenter, who exited with the Reds leading 3-1 in the sixth.
