Baseball, Chris Carpenter | featured news

The starting pitcher had carried the game all the way to the seventh inning, a rare luxury for the St. Louis Cardinals this postseason, and with a one-run lead and nine outs to go, the 46,406 in attendance Wednesday night at Busch Stadium, home of the savviest fans in baseball, could practically pinch-manage the rest of Game 1 of the World Series for Tony La Russa.

Albert Pujols hit an RBI double during a four-run first inning and the St. Louis bullpen bailed out Chris Carpenter as the Cardinals beat the Milwaukee Brewers 4-3 Wednesday night for a 2-1 edge in the NL championship series.

The Cardinals, who led the National League in runs scored, won the fifth game of their division series on Friday because their own ace, Chris Carpenter, beat the Phillies at their own game.

Chris Carpenter and the St. Louis Cardinals completed one of baseball's greatest comebacks, clinching the NL wild card Wednesday night with an 8-0 win over Houston and a later loss by Atlanta. The Cardinals got their playoff spot when the Braves fell to Philadelphia 4-3 in 13 innings.