Joe Mather Plays Role of Hero, Cardinals Win 7-2

In a night that saw the St. Louis Cardinals' ace Chris Carpenter take the mound for the first time since April 2007, an upstart outfielder named Joe Mather stole the show.

Mather hit a two-run blast in the eighth inning to stretch the Redbirds' lead to 5-2, and there would be no looking back from relievers this time.

The main story, however, was the performance of Carpenter. He was admittedly wild at times, but allowed just one run over four innings of work. His 67 pitches through four innings were pretty average, and he allowed baserunners in each of his four innings. When he needed the crucial outs though, he got them.

So what does this mean for the Cardinals heading forward? Well, if Carpenter can come back and pitch effective innings, it may be the equivalent of getting a huge pick up before the trade deadline. That in itself goes miles in terms of describing what Carp means to this ball club.

In other news, first baseman Albert Pujols extended his RBI streak to five games with a double that plated Adam Kennedy. Pujols kept his batting average steady at .355 with a 1-for-3 night, but looked comfortable in his at-bats, which is an enormous plus for the 'Birds.

Reliever Russ Springer continues to impress, picking up another one out hold by throwing just one pitch. I was a little surprised, as were FSN announcers Dan McLaughlin and Al Hrabosky, with manager Tony La Russa's decision to take out Springer to start the bottom of the eighth inning in favor of overworked Kyle McClellan.

For my money, I'll take Springer over any of the other relievers in the 'pen right now for the Cardinals, and allowing him to throw just two pitches in two games doesn't make a whole lot of sense, especially when McClellan has been horsing through innings lately.

Lastly, it was a calming feeling to see middle reliever Brad Thompson throw 2.2 solid innings. He has seemed nervous and a bit shaky lately, but he gave up just one run, allowing the Cardinals to hang in the tight ballgame, while giving Springer the ball with 'Birds on top.

Although it doesn't look like we are going to pick up any games on the Chicago Cubs, by the end of the night, we will be back in the NL Wild Card lead.

Until tomorrow, I'm Ben Weixlmann. Thanks for reading!