Cardinals' red-hot Carpenter is crushing his way to homer history
The home run Matt Carpenter blasted out of Milwaukee's Miller Park was his 17th of the season, but that's not what made it special.
It was his seventh homer in 10 days since returning to the lead-off spot on July 30, meaning the Cardinals' third-baseman is raking home runs at a record rate. According to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, it's a rate baseball hasn't seen in 20 years. Eleven of Carpenter's 17 homers have come from the No. 1 spot in the lineup.
He's just one homer away from tying Ray Lankford's 12 homers for St. Louis in the 1994 season. Lou Brock holds the franchise record with 21 home runs from the lead-off spot in 1967.
So just imagine if Carpenter had been hitting at the top of the order all season. His 11 homers from that spot have come in just 31 starts, according to Goold, a rate of one homer every 11.55 at-bats.
The next closest in Cardinals history is Lankford at 21.75 back in 1994.
(h/t St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
