Power surge: Carpenter and Peralta go yard to lift Cards over Reds
The breakout day the Cardinals' offense needed started at the top of the lineup.
Matt Carpenter walked once and finished with two hits in five at-bats, highlighted by the most important one of a series-clinching 7-5 win in Cincinnati. The 2014 All-Star doesn't lead off for his power, but he reminded the Reds he has some pop with a two-run home run off Kevin Gregg in the top of the 11th inning.
"I was ready to hit, trying to be aggressive," Carpenter said in his postgame interview on FOX Sports Midwest. "I got a good pitch."
The Cards' leadoff hitter knew what to do with a belt-high fastball over the plate, depositing it over the center-field wall to pick up his third and fourth RBIs of the day. He drove in a pair of runs with a two-out single during the three-run fifth.
Mike Matheny briefly considered moving Carpenter down the lineup in spring training before deciding it just didn't make sense. One of the most patient batters in baseball, he frequently forces a pitcher to show his entire repertoire during the early innings and is one of the team's top threats to reach base.
Carpenter and Holliday lead the team with four walks, even though few pitchers want to put Carpenter on base ahead of Jason Heyward and Holliday. Matheny also praised Carpenter for his consistent effort, noting he nearly got to second base while running out a pop-up in the ninth inning.
"You do the little things right and you keep trying to figure out ways to get better," Matheny said. "We've talked about him utilizing his power and I think you're going to see that from time to time, and that was a good time for it."
The rest of the lineup followed his example; seven of the Cardinals' eight starting position players recorded at least one hit. They finished with a season-high 11 hits and tripled their home run tally for the season with a pair of critical two-run blasts.
Add this kind of offense to what has so far been a dominant pitching staff and St. Louis should have a recipe for success.
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• Martinez rounds out rotation. Carlos Martinez took the first step toward solidifying his spot as St. Louis' fifth starter against a dangerous Reds lineup.
A pair of solo homers by Billy Hamilton and Jay Bruce marked the only blemishes on a solid outing for the righty, who allowed just two other hits and struck out eight with a pair of walks over six innings of work. A line like that would be strong enough to earn the win on many days.
• Peralta goes yard. The Cardinals' home run leader from a season ago opened his account for the 2015 season.
Shortstop Jhonny Peralta's two-run blast to left tied the game at five in the eighth and he nearly gave the visitors the lead an inning later when he hit an Aroldis Chapman pitch to the warning track in right field. Peralta also singled and walked as part of a 2-for-4 day.
• Limiting hits. Even after giving up 11 hits to the Reds on Sunday, the Cardinals can lay claim to a historically low opponent hit total through their first five games.
Thanks to five solid starts of six innings or more and a strong bullpen, St. Louis held opponents to a .164 average and just 28 hits. That's the fewest hits Cardinals pitchers have allowed in the first five games of any season since at least 1909, the last year for which Baseball Reference and Retrosheet have hit totals.
That's all well and good, but St. Louis probably wouldn't mind giving up some more singles if it meant fewer walks and -- most important -- home runs.
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• Missed opportunities. The Cardinals had their chances to win a tight series in a timely manner.
But St. Louis went just 1 for 5 with runners in scoring position and left seven runners on base, including two in a two-run eighth inning that looked like it might be much bigger. The Cardinals put runners on second and third with only one out before Kolten Wong and Matt Adams both popped out to keep the game tied at five.
• Bad bunting. Plenty of arguments have been made for and against bunting, but everyone can agree they don't work when executed poorly.
Both teams faced their struggles when trying to give up outs to move over baserunners. Martinez became the second Cardinal to pop up a bunt in the last two days, while Cincinnati's Brandon Phillips and reliever Tony Cingrani struck out after failing twice to lay down a bunt.
Another poor bunt produced perhaps the most bizarre play of the game, when Yadier Molina appeared to bunt into a double play after Brayan Pena grabbed the ball off the plate and threw to third base for the force. But Matheny's challenge revealed Pena had tagged Molina first, making Peter Bourjos safe at third for a successful sacrifice.
• Bullpen falters. The second blown lead in three days marred an otherwise sensational start to the season for the St. Louis bullpen.
A perfect surprise bunt by Pena started a three-run seventh that put Cincinnati ahead 5-3 despite very little solid contact and no extra-base hits. Seth Maness gave up the first two singles on a bunt and a high chopper, Randy Choate walked Joey Votto to load the bases and all three runs scored on back-to-back two-out singles against Matt Belisle. Kevin Siegrist struck out Jay Bruce to stop the bleeding.
You can follow Luke Thompson on Twitter at @FS_LukeT or email him at lukegthompson87@gmail.com.
