Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game

Chris Carpenter.  Not only did Carpenter pitch five innings of shutout ball, not only did he allow a mere three hits, not only did he strike out six, but he also went 2-3 with 6 RBI, including a grand slam.  Albert who?!

Key Plays

• Kip Wells pitched a scoreless first inning.
• Chris Carpenter hit a grand slam in the second.  That's about as key a play as there is.  When you give up a home run to the pitcher, it's bad.  When it's his first home run of his career, it's bad.  When it's with the bases loaded, it's bad. 
• Kip Wells gave up five runs, Micah Owings gave up four runs, Carlos Fisher gave up three runs, and li'l Danny Ray Herrera only gave up the one.

via www.fangraphs.com

Other Notes

• After some whinging by the Cardinals after their loss last night, a beanball fest seemed inevitable.  Scott Rolen and Juan Francisco got plunked for the good guys, while Kip Wells hit Brendan Ryan, one of the few Cardinals not hitting Kip Wells.
• The last Cardinals pitcher to hit a grand slam was Kent Mercker in 1998.
• The Reds only had five hits, but Adam Rosales had two of them.  Their only extra base hit came courtesy of Micah Owings.
• El Nino Destructor has a .500 OBP.  Sustainability, schmustainability, that's just fun!
• Chris Carpenter is really good when it comes to facing the Reds.  Entering this game, he had a 0.846 WHIP against them, the second lowest of any team he's faced more than once.  And now, it's a little bit closer to the 0.838 he has against Tampa Bay.