The last time Chris Carpenter got off to such a rocky start to a season, he was a rookie in Toronto — 14 years ago.

The former Cy Young winner gave up four runs in the decisive sixth inning and the St. Louis Cardinals fell for the second straight night to the Milwaukee Brewers, 5-3, to see their lead in the NL Central fall to a half-game.

“I’m fine,” Carpenter said. “I’ve been around too long to concern myself with what my record is and what I’m doing. I’ve got to go out and get ready to pitch the next time. They expect me to go out there and be ready to pitch and compete, and I will do that.”

Carpenter (1-6), the 2005 NL Cy Young, has lost his last four decisions. He started 1-7 for the Blue Jays in 1997.

The Cardinals have lost three of four after winning four straight.

Milwaukee, meanwhile, is the hottest team in baseball over the last month, and they keep improving on their major-league best home record.

Lance Berkman homered off Zack Greinke (6-1) to give St. Louis a 2-1 lead in the sixth, but Milwaukee scored four times in the bottom of the inning off Carpenter.

Greinke started with a single and Rickie Weeks followed with an opposite-field homer to right. Corey Hart’s two-out double made it 5-2 after Carpenter uncharacteristically walked Fielder and slumping Casey McGehee.

“He made two mistakes in that inning — got a ball up to Weeks and a ball up to Hart — and that was four runs,” Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said. “Other than that, he pitched outstanding. Sometimes those balls get fouled off or hit at somebody.”

Carpenter blamed the walks for his downfall, especially the one to McGehee, who came in hitting .227.

“Those two walks are obviously not what you’re looking for. They kill you,” he said. “Then Corey hit a curveball. It just happened like that, that fast. I had as good a stuff as I’ve had all year. I just made a few mistakes, and they hurt me.”

Said Hart: “(His cutter) was very good tonight. That’s what he threw me the first pitch, strike one, then he came back with the curveball. He’s such a competitor. Any time you face him, it’s always a battle.”

Daniel Descalso’s run-scoring double cut Milwaukee’s lead to 5-3 in the seventh, but reliever Kameron Loe pitched a quiet eighth and John Axford converted his 14th straight save opportunity and 17th overall in the ninth.

“Greinke did a good job of keeping us off balance, and he went deep into the game,” Cardinals outfielder Jon Jay said. “And their bullpen did a really good job.”

Fielder also hit his seventh homer in the last eight games for Milwaukee.

Milwaukee is off to their best start in franchise history at home at 24-9. St. Louis came into town with the most road wins in the majors at 20, but the Cardinals will try to avoid being swept out of first place on Sunday.

Greinke, the 2009 AL Cy Young winner, missed the first month of the season with a cracked rib and lost his first start against Atlanta, but has gone 6-0 in his last seven appearances coinciding with Milwaukee’s ascent in the standings.

He was sharp again with nine strikeouts over seven innings, helping the Brewers (37-28) reach nine games over .500 for the first time in more than two years.

Fielder put Milwaukee ahead in the second on a 420-foot solo homer, his 18th this season. St. Louis answered with Yadier Molina’s two-out, run-scoring double in the fourth and Lance Berkman’s solo shot in the sixth to go ahead 2-1, setting the stage for Milwaukee’s big inning.

“The good thing is we’ve still got a lot of time left in the summer, so we have got to keep on playing hard,” Jay said. “There is still plenty of baseball to be played, and there are going to be more close games like tonight, so we just have to stay positive.

Jay made an over-the-shoulder diving catch near the wall to end the fourth, banging awkwardly into the lower padding. The extraordinary effort left Carpenter with a smile of disbelief as he walked toward the dugout, but the good times for the Cardinals wouldn’t last long.

“I just went after it,” Jay said. “I was trying to make a play, and I was able to make one.”

NOTES: The Cardinals will recall outfield prospect Andrew Brown from Triple-A Memphis on Sunday. The corresponding roster move will be announced Sunday. Brown, an 18th round pick in the 2007 draft, has been outstanding at Memphis this season, hitting .351 with 11 home runs and 41 RBI in 50 games. “He was impressive in spring training, and he just carried it on into the season,” La Russa said.

The last time Chris Carpenter got off to such a rocky start to a season, he was a rookie in Toronto — 14 years ago.

The former Cy Young winner gave up four runs in the decisive sixth inning and the St. Louis Cardinals fell for the second straight night to the Milwaukee Brewers, 5-3, to see their lead in the NL Central fall to a half-game.

“I’m fine,” Carpenter said. “I’ve been around too long to concern myself with what my record is and what I’m doing. I’ve got to go out and get ready to pitch the next time. They expect me to go out there and be ready to pitch and compete, and I will do that.”

Carpenter (1-6), the 2005 NL Cy Young, has lost his last four decisions. He started 1-7 for the Blue Jays in 1997.

The Cardinals have lost three of four after winning four straight.

Milwaukee, meanwhile, is the hottest team in baseball over the last month, and they keep improving on their major-league best home record.

Lance Berkman homered off Zack Greinke (6-1) to give St. Louis a 2-1 lead in the sixth, but Milwaukee scored four times in the bottom of the inning off Carpenter.

Greinke started with a single and Rickie Weeks followed with an opposite-field homer to right. Corey Hart’s two-out double made it 5-2 after Carpenter uncharacteristically walked Fielder and slumping Casey McGehee.

“He made two mistakes in that inning — got a ball up to Weeks and a ball up to Hart — and that was four runs,” Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said. “Other than that, he pitched outstanding. Sometimes those balls get fouled off or hit at somebody.”

Carpenter blamed the walks for his downfall, especially the one to McGehee, who came in hitting .227.

“Those two walks are obviously not what you’re looking for. They kill you,” he said. “Then Corey hit a curveball. It just happened like that, that fast. I had as good a stuff as I’ve had all year. I just made a few mistakes, and they hurt me.”

Said Hart: “(His cutter) was very good tonight. That’s what he threw me the first pitch, strike one, then he came back with the curveball. He’s such a competitor. Any time you face him, it’s always a battle.”

Daniel Descalso’s run-scoring double cut Milwaukee’s lead to 5-3 in the seventh, but reliever Kameron Loe pitched a quiet eighth and John Axford converted his 14th straight save opportunity and 17th overall in the ninth.

“Greinke did a good job of keeping us off balance, and he went deep into the game,” Cardinals outfielder Jon Jay said. “And their bullpen did a really good job.”

Fielder also hit his seventh homer in the last eight games for Milwaukee.

Milwaukee is off to their best start in franchise history at home at 24-9. St. Louis came into town with the most road wins in the majors at 20, but the Cardinals will try to avoid being swept out of first place on Sunday.

Greinke, the 2009 AL Cy Young winner, missed the first month of the season with a cracked rib and lost his first start against Atlanta, but has gone 6-0 in his last seven appearances coinciding with Milwaukee’s ascent in the standings.

He was sharp again with nine strikeouts over seven innings, helping the Brewers (37-28) reach nine games over .500 for the first time in more than two years.

Fielder put Milwaukee ahead in the second on a 420-foot solo homer, his 18th this season. St. Louis answered with Yadier Molina’s two-out, run-scoring double in the fourth and Lance Berkman’s solo shot in the sixth to go ahead 2-1, setting the stage for Milwaukee’s big inning.

“The good thing is we’ve still got a lot of time left in the summer, so we have got to keep on playing hard,” Jay said. “There is still plenty of baseball to be played, and there are going to be more close games like tonight, so we just have to stay positive.

Jay made an over-the-shoulder diving catch near the wall to end the fourth, banging awkwardly into the lower padding. The extraordinary effort left Carpenter with a smile of disbelief as he walked toward the dugout, but the good times for the Cardinals wouldn’t last long.

“I just went after it,” Jay said. “I was trying to make a play, and I was able to make one.”

NOTES: The Cardinals will recall outfield prospect Andrew Brown from Triple-A Memphis on Sunday. The corresponding roster move will be announced Sunday. Brown, an 18th round pick in the 2007 draft, has been outstanding at Memphis this season, hitting .351 with 11 home runs and 41 RBI in 50 games. “He was impressive in spring training, and he just carried it on into the season,” La Russa said.
 

(Sports Network) – Milwaukee Brewers starter Zack Greinke will put his
unbeaten streak on the line tonight versus the St. Louis Cardinals in the
second installment of a three-game series from Miller Park.

Since losing his Brewers debut on May 4 at Atlanta, allowing five runs — four
earned — in four innings of an 8-0 loss, Greinke is 5-0 with a less desirable
4.38 earned run average in six starts — all Milwaukee wins. He was last in
action in Monday’s 7-2 victory at Florida and limited the Marlins to two runs
in seven innings to push his record to 5-1 in seven starts.

The right-hander and 2009 AL Cy Young Award winner with Kansas City is
unbeaten in four starts at home (3-0) and will make his seventh career
appearance against St. Louis. In six games, four of which have been starts,
against the Cardinals, the right-hander’s 3-2 with a 4.15 ERA.

Countering for the Cardinals is a Cy Young winner in Chris Carpenter. The 2005
recipient of the NL honor is 0-3 with a 4.15 ERA in five starts since his only
victory on May 10 at Chicago.

Carpenter has recorded back-to-back no-decisions and previously toed the
rubber in Sunday’s 3-2, 10-inning win over the Cubs at Busch Stadium. The
righty lasted nine innings and allowed two runs on seven hits and a pair of
walks with six strikeouts. Carpenter, who is only 1-4 in seven road starts in
2011, is 1-5 with a 4.25 ERA in 13 outings this season and will make his 12th
career start against Milwaukee. He is 4-4 with a 4.87 ERA through the first 11
appearances in this matchup.

Milwaukee hammered the Cardinals, 8-0, in last night’s series opener behind
eight shutout innings from Chris Narveson, who struck out six batters and
walked only one to improve to 3-4 on the season. Tim Dillard closed the door
in the ninth to preserve the blanking.

“I was able to command the strike zone and get outs,” Narveson said. “You
always need an outing like this.”

Ryan Braun and Corey Hart both homered, while Nyjer Morgan drove in a pair of
runs and Craig Counsell went 3-for-3 with three runs scored for Milwaukee,
which has won six of eight games and is 2-2 on a six game homestand. The
Brewers are 23-9 at home this season and has not lost back-to-back games in
Brew City in 2011. Milwaukee dropped a 4-1 decision to the Mets on Thursday
before exploding for eight runs last night.

The Brewers also pulled within 1 1/2 games of St. Louis for the top spot in
the NL Central standings.

St. Louis entered last night’s game having won five of six games, but starting
pitcher Kyle Lohse had a rare rough outing and allowed four runs through five
innings to fall to 7-3 on the season. Ryan Franklin and Brian Tallet both gave
up two runs in relief for the Cardinals, who are 2-2 on a nine-game road trip.

Ryan Theriot continued his hot play with a team-best two hits, while Cardinals
skipper Tony La Russa managed the 5,000th game of his career in defeat,
joining Connie Mack as the only managers/coaches in American professional
sports to reach that milestone.

“It’s a very simple life,” La Russa said. “You’re excited when you win and
disappointed when you lose.”

The Central-leading Cardinals will also visit Washington for three games on
the current road swing and are 20-15 away from Busch Stadium. Theriot,
meanwhile, had his career-best 20-game hitting streak stopped on Wednesday and
owns hits in 22 of his previous 23 games. He is batting over .300 in his
career at Miller Park.

Albert Pujols is riding an eight-game hitting streak in which he’s batting
.387 with five homers and nine RBI. Pujols is hitting .333 against Greinke in
his career, going 3-for-9 with a double and three walks.

St. Louis took two of three meetings from Milwaukee in early May, but the
Brewers have won nine of the previous 14 matchups in this series.

The Sports Network

Read More: Kyle Lohse (P – STL), Ryan Theriot (SS – STL), Corey Hart (RF – MIL), Craig Counsell (2B – MIL), Yadier Molina (C – STL), Chris Narveson (P – MIL), St. Louis Cardinals, Milwaukee Brewers

The St. Louis Cardinals lost a game from their 2.5 game lead in the National League Central Friday night, getting blown out by the Milwaukee Brewers by a score of 8-0 in the series opener at Miller Park. Ryan Theriot had two hits and Yadier Molina doubled to pace the Cardinals’ moribund offense, which did struggling starter Kyle Lohse no favors. He allowed four runs and walked three in five innings to take the loss. Chris Narveson, who had teetered on the edge of removal from the Brewers’ rotation, struck out six in eight scoreless innings for the win, his third of the season.

Ryan Braun and Corey Hart homered, and Craig Counsell doubled and tripled for the Brewers, who improved to 36-28, just a game-and-a-half behind the Cardinals, who’ve led the NL Central for most of 2011. A weekend sweep would hand the Brewers the division; looking to avoid that will be Chris Carpenter, who matches up with Zack Greinke on Saturday, and Jake Westbrook, who gets Shaun Marcum on Sunday.