Carpenter’s blast ignites 5-run outburst for Cards

CARDINALS 8, RANGERS 2

ARLINGTON, Texas — Matt Carpenter almost homered and almost got picked off in the same decisive inning that pushed the St. Louis Cardinals to an 8-2 victory over Texas, their first against the Rangers since the 2011 World Series.

Carpenter was initially given a two-run home run in the fifth inning after his opposite-field shot that hit the wide pad atop the 14-foot wall in left field, bounced up and came back down into the field of play. That was changed to an RBI double on replay review after the Rangers challenged the call, but still ignited a five-run outburst.

“That was big … let’s figure out a way to be able to break through and have a big inning,” Manager Mike Shildt said. “It was a big hit, but more importantly we were able to do something with it.”

Ariel Jurado (1-2) had Carpenter picked off after the overturned call in the fifth, but second baseman Rougned Odor dropped the ball for an error. The Rangers starter was done after walking the next batter.

Paul DeJong, who later homered and had a season-high four RBI, then greeted reliever Jeanmar Gomez with a two-run double into the left field corner that made it 4-0. After another walk, Jose Martinez had an RBI single and a groundout by Yadier Molina sent home another run.

“That’s kind of our identity as an offense, be able to grind out at-bats, take advantage of the mistakes,” DeJong said.

“Obviously, that fifth inning was the big one,” Rangers Manager Chris Woodward said. “We just couldn’t seem to stop the bleeding. They hit a couple balls hard but also ground balls found holes. … A little unfortunate.”

Cardinals rookie right-hander Dakota Hudson (3-3) struck out 5 and allowed 2 runs over 6 innings.

The Cardinals had lost seven regular season games in a row against Texas since their World Series title eight years ago, when DeJong was a freshman in college.