Carpenter homers twice as Cardinals rout Reds 10-2

St. Louis Cardinals’ Matt Carpenter is congratulated by teammates… Carpenter has 26 home runs and 81 RBIs.

“As big of a mess as you could put yourself in, just keep trying to make pitches”, Rosenthal said after working around two one-hit singles. Matheny didn’t need them off the bench either.

Louis a 96-56 record and brings them four wins shy of 100. Samardzija allowed a leadoff single to Victor Martinez in the fifth inning as the White Sox won the opener 2-0. Grichuk also walked and scored before leaving the blowout after six innings. Ryan Mattheus gave up an RBI single to pinch-hitter Matt Adams, but got out of the inning without further damage. He was batting.400 with a double and three RBIs in nine games…. The lead was trimmed to 9-1. He threw 72 pitches (51 strikes) in his second big-league start. But thanks to a three-run sixth inning by the Cardinals, the homer only cut the Cardinals’ lead to eight. “It wasn’t going out there throwing five innings and giving up 11 hits”. Since then, the slugging rookie had gone one for 11.

Cincinnati Reds catcher Tucker Barnhart, left, waits for the throw… It was Carpenter’s second two-homer game of the season and of his career. But, when the eighth inning rolled around the Cardinals came alive.

Meanwhile, coming off a disastrous start in Chicago, Lynn has been a different pitcher.

Regulars Jason Heyward and Kolten Wong were missing from the lineup as Cincinnati ran out southpaw Brandon Finnegan. “It was a very good day for us”.

Reds: RHP Rafael Iglesias, removed from the rotation last week because of shoulder fatigue, has not been shut down for the season. Joey Votto has reached base in 38 consecutive games and is 3-for-9 with two homers versus Tuesday starter John Lackey. He has been out since April 25, so any action before the season ends would mean Wainwright returned in five months from an injury that usually requires a much longer rehab period.

LF Matt Holliday started for the first time since being activated from the 15-day disabled list September 15.

“That’s the hard thing about it at this time of year”, Matheny agreed. “We’ve got a lot of baseball to play”. The results have not been impressive.

Reds first. Bourgeois struck out.

Something will have to give when the team has to trim to the 25-man playoff roster.

Brandon Finnegan pitched extremely well earlier on this road trip against Milwaukee in his Reds starting debut. Instead, he got the out at first, and the runners moved up. Another mark that Lackey somewhat ignores. A nice sight to see as the club nears the postseason. “He’s got great bat speed and he’s becoming more disciplined”.

As clearly demonstrated during the Wreck at Wrigley, location has been an issue. “The velocity, movement, everything is still there”. “He controlled his fastball from the top to the bottom of the zone”.

St. Louis Cardinals second baseman Matt Carpenter deflects but…

For Cincinnati, newcomer Finnegan makes his second major league start. “Most of it is just out of respect for how this guy goes about his business, and what he’s done for individuals all over the clubhouse”. “I thought for the most part my stuff was good”. “Honestly, I couldn’t be any happier, but he’s pretty hard to please”.

Members of the St. Louis Cardinals pause during a moment of silence… “That’s the first time I’ve had that opportunity to come into a big situation like that, to finish the game out”.