Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Carpenter puts on historic show
CARDINALS 18, CUBS 5
CHICAGO — 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 home run Friday that capped off a historic performance for the St. Louis Cardinals in an 18-5 romp over the Chicago Cubs.
Carpenter hit 3 home runs and 2 doubles, going 5 for 5 with 7 RBI. 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 home run.
“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 home run, the Cubs used three position players to pitch the rest of the way — infielder Tommy La Stella, backup catcher Victor Caratini and versatile Ian Happ. La Stella and Caratini gave up home runs as the Cubs became the first team since the 1979 Milwaukee Brewers to use three position players on the mound in a game.
The NL Central-leading Cubs lost for just the fourth time in their last 17 games.
Carpenter joined Cubs star Kris Bryant as the only players in the majors to hit three home runs and two doubles in a game. Bryant
homered in this game, too, as did teammate Willson Contreras.
Carpenter has homered in four straight games. During that stretch, he is 9 for 16 with six home runs, three doubles and 10 RBIs.
The leadoff homer by Carpenter was his team-record sixth of the season and 21st of his career, matching the club mark held by Hall of Famer Lou Brock.
Carpenter hit a two-run homer in the second inning off Jon Lester (12-3). Carpenter doubled twice in the fourth and hit a three-run drive, his 23rd this year, off reliever Brian Duensing in the sixth.
Carpenter has faced Lester more than any other pitcher during his career, but was just 7 for 50 (.140) with 14 strikeouts and one home run against the lefty until breaking loose.
Lester (12-3) was tagged for a season-high eight runs on seven hits and five walks in three innings. It was his first loss since a 1-0 loss to Cleveland on May 23.
The Cardinals tied a season high with 18 hits as they bounced back after dropping the first game of the five-game series. The teams play a day-night doubleheader on Saturday and in order to save his bullpen, Cubs manager Joe Maddon used other parts of his roster.
It was the first time two position players were used to pitch for the Cubs since at least 1907, according to Cubs historian Ed Hartig.
La Stella allowed one run in 1 1-3 innings, a homer by Greg Garcia. Caratini gave up a pinch-hit, tworun homer to Yairo Munoz in the eighth and Happ pitched a scoreless ninth.
Cardinals starter Jack Flaherty (4-4) pitched five innings. He allowed one run and two hits, while pitching around four walks with nine strikeouts. BRAVES 8, NATIONALS 5 Stephen Strasburg was batted around by the Atlanta Braves, then engaged in a heated spat with Nationals ace Max Scherzer in the dugout during Washington’s loss. It was unclear what prompted the exchange between the star pitchers in their first game after the All-Star break. The dispute occurred after Strasburg (6-7), activated from the 10-day disabled list earlier in the day and throwing on his 30th birthday, gave up six runs and eight hits in 42 /3 innings. He walked into the dugout, got a pat on the back from Scherzer and sat down on the bench. They began barking at each other, then both quickly went off-camera by leaving the dugout. The Braves lost All-Star second baseman Ozzie Albies in the third inning, and the team said he was lifted as a precaution because of right hamstring tightness. He had an RBI double and stole a base in a two-run first inning. Anibal Sanchez (5-2) allowed three runs over six innings for the Braves, who started the second half near the top of the NL East. Ronald Acuna Jr. homered, doubled and singled, scored three runs and stole two bases for Atlanta. Charlie Culberson, who replaced Albies, also homered. Matt Adams, Trea Turner and Juan Soto homered for the Nationals, who hosted the All-Star Game Tuesday. Washington, which has lost six of nine, fell to 48-49 and six games behind Atlanta. A.J. Minter pitched the ninth for his fifth save. The Braves entered the All-Star break having lost eight of 11. Atlanta is 7-4 against Washington this season. Strasburg went on the DL on June 10 with right shoulder inflammation. He landed in trouble quickly in his return as the Braves scored two in the first inning. Albies’ knocked in the Braves’ first run with a double, stole third and shrewdly came home on Freddie Freeman’s groundout as third baseman Anthony Rendon’s wide throw forced Adams to reach at first base. Culberson pinch-hit for Albies in the third.
PHILLIES 11, PADRES 5 Carlos Santana homered and drove in four, Cesar Hernandez had a two-run double and the Philadelphia Phillies overcame a four-run first-inning deficit to beat the San Diego Padres. Odubel Herrera added two RBIs for the surprising Phillies, who remained a half-game ahead of Atlanta for first in the NL East with their 13th win in 19 games. Austin Davis (1-0) got his first major league win with 12/3 scoreless innings in relief of Jake Arrieta. Davis was one of five Phillies relievers who combined to allow just three hits over 52/3 scoreless innings. Freddy Galvis had three hits, including a double, and drove in two runs in his return to Philadelphia for the Padres. Galvis played his first six seasons with the Phillies before being traded in the offseason. Clayton Richard (7-9) allowed seven runs and four hits in three innings for the last-place Padres, who have lost six straight and 22 of 28. San Diego got off to a promising start against Arrieta. The former NL Cy Young Award winner stumbled in the first inning when San Diego scored four runs on three hits and was helped by two errors — one on Arrieta — and a wild pitch. Arrieta had been 2-0 with a 1.89 ERA in his last three starts, but he labored through a 35-pitch opening frame. Philadelphia got a run back in the bottom of the first before exploding for six runs in the second to go in front for good. Santana had the big blow with a three-run shot to left field. The Phillies also got an RBI walk from Rhys Hoskins and a two-run single from Hernandez. Arrieta allowed six runs - five earned - in 31/3 innings with two strikeouts and three walks.
AMERICAN LEAGUE BLUE JAYS 8, ORIOLES 7, 10 INNINGS
Aledmys Diaz singled home the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning and the Toronto Blue Jays recovered after blowing a three-run lead in the ninth to beat the Baltimore Orioles. Diaz had four hits, including a solo homer, and scored twice as the Blue Jays improved to 7-1 against Baltimore. Russell Martin hit a two-out single off left-hander Paul Fry (0-1) in the 10th and advanced to second when Randal Gruck walked. Diaz followed with a grounder that ticked off the glove of third baseman Renato Nunez and eluded shortstop Tim Beckham, allowing Martin to score. John Axford (3-1) pitched one inning for the win. Toronto led 7-4 through eight innings but Tyler Clippard couldn’t close the door in the ninth. Tret Mancini led off with a double, took third on an error and scored on a wild pitch to cut it to 7-5. One out later, Caleb Joseph homered to make it a one-run game. Clippard struck out Beckham for the second out, them surrendered a game-tying blast to Jonathan Schoop. The blown save was Clippard’s sixth in 12 opportunities. Beckham and Chris Davis each hit two-run homers for the Orioles, whose modest two-game winning streak was snapped. Baltimore is 9-18 in one-run games. Toronto right-hander Sam Gaviglio set career highs by striking out eight in 72/3 innings. He allowed four runs and seven hits, leaving after Davis homered in the eighth. Seunghwan Oh came on and struck out Danny Valencia to end the inning. Orioles right-hander Dylan Bundy allowed five runs and five hits in five innings, remaining winless since returning from the 10-day disabled list after missing nearly two weeks because of a sprained left ankle. Baltimore played for the first time since trading infielder Manny Machado to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday. Infielder Renato Nunez was called up from Triple-A Norfolk and started at third base, with Beckham starting at shortstop.
RED SOX 1, TIGERS 0 David Price took a shutout into the seventh inning, and the Boston Red Sox kept right on rolling in their first game after the All-Star break, beating the Detroit Tigers. The Red Sox (69-30) have won 13 of their last 14, and on this night, one run in the first inning was enough for the team with baseball’s best record. Price (11-6) allowed four hits in 61/3 innings, walking one and striking out five. Steve Pearce hit an RBI double in the first, and the Tigers could never match that one run. Detroit had the bases loaded and nobody out in the fourth and didn’t score. Matthew Boyd (4-9) allowed a run and three hits in five-plus innings. He struck out six and walked two. Boston reliever Matt Barnes escaped a jam in the eighth after the Tigers put a man on third with one out. Craig Kimbrel pitched the ninth for his 31st save in 33 chances. Detroit has lost seven of eight. Price has 97 victories from 2012-18, and he’s now even with teammate Chris Sale for the most in the American League in that span. He retired the first nine men he faced Friday, then got in trouble by allowing three straight singles to start the bottom of the fourth.
INTERLEAGUE
MARLINS 6, RAYS 5 Derek Dietrich homered twice, including a three-run shot in the seventh inning that broke a tie, to lead Dan Straily and the Miami Marlins over the Tampa Bay Rays. Dietrich’s 13th homer came off left-hander Hoby Milner after two walks by Diego Castillo (1-1). Miami added two more runs in the inning with the help of a couple of errors to take a 6-1 lead. Mallex Smith’s bases-loaded triple helped the Rays score four runs in the ninth before Adam Conley struck out Daniel Robertson to end it with two runners on. Straily (4-4) pitched seven innings, giving up one run and four hits. Conley, the fourth Marlins reliever, earned his first career save. Dietrich drove in the game’s first run with a homer off Tampa Bay starter Nathan Eovaldi in the third. The left fielder, who also had a single, is hitting .431 in 20 road games since June 1. Kevin Kiermaier, who left the game in the fifth inning with a sore right foot, led off the first inning with a double and scored the Rays’ first run on Adeiny Hechavarria’s single. Eovaldi, who was being scouted by several teams ahead of the July 31 trade deadline, gave up one run and six hits, striking out eight. After he walked nobody in six innings, the Rays’ bullpen walked three batters in the seventh and all of them scored. It was the sixth win in eight games for the Marlins.
METS 7, YANKEES 5 Yoenis Cespedes homered in his return from the disabled list, Noah Syndergaard won his second straight start since coming back from an injury but left after a drop in velocity, and the New York Mets beat the Yankees in a Subway Series opener. Robert Gsellman pitched two innings for his fifth save as Mets closer Jeurys Familia sat in the bullpen. Manager Mickey Callaway said he was told midgame not to use Familia because the team was close to trading him. Cespedes had been out since May 13 with a strained right hip flexor, the latest in a string of lower body injuries that have limited him to 119 games in 1 ½ seasons since signing a $110 million, four-year contract. He homered off an again ineffective Domingo German (2-6) to put the Mets ahead 4-0 in the third, sending a 3-0 pitch off the left-field foul pole. Cespedes is 8 for 10 with a pair of homers in his big league career on 3-0 counts. He also singled in the sixth -- it would have driven in a run had Brandon Nimmo not been thrown out trying to stretch a double into a triple. German was optioned to the minors after the game.