Cards hammer Cubs

Already in the midst of a monster game, Matt Carpenter almost left too early.

Carpenter stuck around for one more swing, and connected for a three-run homer Friday that capped off a historic performance for the St. Louis Cardinals in an 18-5 romp over the Chicago Cubs.

Carpenter hit three home runs and two doubles, going 5 for 5 with seven RBIs. He tied the major league record for extra-base hits in a game, and became the first player to do it in just six innings.

“I’m having a hard time to come up with words to describe a day like this,” Carpenter said.

Carpenter led off the game at Wrigley Field with a home run against Jon Lester. With the Cardinals comfortably ahead, interim manager Mike Shildt contemplated resting him.

“I almost didn’t take the last at-bat. He came up to me, they had the lefty on mound and he said, ‘Hey, what do you think?’” Carpenter said.

“I was actually OK with Jose (Martinez) coming in, we had a big lead, we have a lot of games piling up in the next couple of days. I was honestly OK with it,” he said. “And then I looked at the situation knowing that if I was going to get up, there was going to be runners on base so I went back up to him and said, ‘Hey, I’ll take this last one, for sure,’” Carpenter said.

It turned into a huge day for Carpenter, who exited after that last homer.

“I can’t think outside of T-ball that I have ever done that, certainly a first for me,” he said.

Carpenter became the 14th player with five extra-base hits in a game, and the first to do it for the Cardinals.

Trailing 15-1 after Carpenter’s third homer, the Cubs used three position players to pitch the rest of the way — infielder Tommy La Stella, backup catcher Victor Caratini and Ian Happ.