Cards, Carpenter Win Game One

The St. Louis Cardinals took game one over the Texas Rangers with a 3-2 victory thanks to quality pitching from Chris Carpenter, a timely pinch hit by Allen Craig, and the Cards bullpen. Craig hit an RBI single in the sixth inning to break a tie, which was all the Cardinals needed to win.

Carp pitched six solid innings and kept the Rangers in check aside from a Mike Napoli home run in the fifth inning. It was the Cardinals first quality start since Carpenter shut out the Phillies on Friday, October 7th. It was a low scoring game, but not quite a pitcher's duel as C.J. Wilson allowed four hits and six walks over 5.2 innings pitched. Not quite the performance you would expect from an ace starting pitcher on the verge of free agency.

Jaime Garcia (13-7, 3.56 ERA, 1.32 WHIP, 156 SO)
vs.
Colby Lewis (14-10, 4.40 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, 169 SO)

Garcia was upset when he was pulled early in his last start, so I hope he avoids pitching himself into a corner tonight. Game two airs tonight on FOX at 7:05 PM CT. A win tonight would ensure another happy flight to Texas.