Carpenter has 3 HRs, 2 doubles and exits as Cards hammer Cubs
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 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. ...” 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.’”
It turned into a huge day for Carpenter, who exited after that last homer.
BRAVES 8, NATIONALS 5 » Stephen Strasburg was batted around by Atlanta, 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 4.2 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.
BLUE JAYS 8, ORIOLES 7 » Aledmys Diaz singled home the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning and Toronto recovered after blowing a three-run lead in the ninth to beat Baltimore.
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 Miami over Tampa Bay.