Carpenter torched by Brewers in 12-5 loss

Saturday’s game was a forgettable one for Chris Carpenter and the St. Louis Cardinals. The team is surely looking forward to a new day and another game.

Carpenter hit a batter with the bases loaded, a rare occurrence in baseball let alone coming from one of the game’s top pitchers. But it was that kind of day for him and his teammates.

Carpenter served up nine hits that translated into eight runs in only three innings to Milwaukee. The Brewers never looked back in route to a 12-5 win. It was his worst start in five years and one of his shortest too. Carpenter has only gone three innings or fewer two other times in his career and both were due to injury.

The competitor in the Cards ace wanted to fight, but it was time to end his day in the fourth and begin forgetting. A short memory will serve him well come his next start. The process will only go quicker if the team can string together some wins starting tomorrow.

Defensively, the Cards committed two errors in the third inning. Brendan Ryan fielded a ground ball and threw home with runners on first and third. He had no chance to get the lead runner and the Cards gave Milwaukee another out. It was simply not smart baseball. A few batters later, a sacrifice fly brought home another run. Randy Winn’s throw was not cut off by Tyler Greene, allowing a second run to score on the play.

St. Louis played a sloppy and uninspired game all around.

The lone bright spot came off of Albert Pujols’ bat. He hit his 20th home run of the year as he continues another All-Star season and positions himself for 30-40 homers on the year.

The Cards send Adam Wainwright to the mound for a showdown with Yovani Gallardo. Both could be in Los Angeles for the All-Star Game later this month. Wainwright has 11 wins and a 2.34 ERA. Gallardo has eight with a 2.56 ERA. The Fourth of July fireworks may have to wait for darkness in St. Louis with these two on the hill.