Felipe Lopez and Chris Carpenter powered the St. Louis Cardinals to a 4-3 comeback win over the New York Mets Friday night at Busch Stadium. Each man’s feat was notable both in the context of the game and in team history.
The infielder belted a grand slam in the seventh inning that immediately transformed his club from a possible 1-0 loser into a 4-1 leader. It was Lopez’ fifth bases-loaded home run in his ten big league seasons and represented only the 12th Cardinal come-from-behind slam in the late innings in at least the last 56 years.
Cardinals grand slams after 6th inning- when trailing to put Cards ahead (1954-present)
| Date | Hitter | Opponent | Opposing pitcher | Score | Inn. |
| 4/16/2010 | Felipe Lopez | NYM | Raul Valdes | down 0-1 | b 7 |
| 7/3/2009 | Albert Pujols | @CIN | David Weathers | down 0-3 | t 8 |
| 8/7/2005 | David Eckstein | ATL | Chris Reitsma | down 1-3 | b 9 |
| 4/11/2000 | Thomas Howard | @HOU | Chris Holt | down 3-6 | t 7 |
| 7/28/1998 | Ray Lankford | MIL | Mike Myers | down 5-8 | b 8 |
| 8/26/1995 | Danny Sheaffer | @COL | Bruce Ruffin | down 1-3 | t 9 |
| 8/15/1992 | Andres Galarraga | @MON | John Wetteland | down 2-4 | t 8 |
| 5/1/1979 | Roger Freed | HOU | Joe Sambito | down 3-6 | b11 |
| 9/3/1977 | Keith Hernandez | @SFG | Gary Lavelle | down 1-4 | t 8 |
| 8/11/1970 | Carl Taylor | SDP | Ron Herbel | down 7-10 | b 9 |
| 9/9/1962 | Carl Sawatski | @CIN | Jim Brosnan | down 1-3 | t 9 |
| 5/21/1954 | Stan Musial | CIN | Frank Smith | down 2-5 | b 7 |
The only run Carpenter, the team’s long-time ace, yielded in seven innings on Friday was unearned and he struck out 10 Mets. That marked the 13th time in his illustrious career he had fanned 10 or more hitters in a game.
Further, Carp has accumulated the club’s last six outings of at least seven innings pitched when allowing four or fewer hits, no earned runs and striking out ten or more opposing batters. The full list of 36 such performances from 1952 to present follows. Note the only name that appears more often than Carpenter is Hall of Famer Bob Gibson.
Cardinals pitchers – at least 7 IP, 4 or fewer hits, 0 earned runs, 10 or more strikeouts, game (1952-present)
| Pitcher | Date | Opp | Final | Result | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| Chris Carpenter | 4/16/2010 | NYM | W 4-3 | GS-7 ,W | 7 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 10 |
| Chris Carpenter | 9/7/2009 | MIL | W 3-0 | SHO9 ,W | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 10 |
| Chris Carpenter | 5/25/2009 | MIL | L 0-1 | GS-8 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| Chris Carpenter | 6/13/2006 | PIT | W 2-1 | GS-7 ,W | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 13 |
| Chris Carpenter | 6/25/2005 | PIT | W 8-0 | SHO9 ,W | 9 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 |
| Chris Carpenter | 6/14/2005 | TOR | W 7-0 | SHO9 ,W | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 |
| Matt Morris | 9/3/2004 | LAD | W 3-0 | SHO9 ,W | 9 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 |
| Matt Morris | 4/5/2003 | HOU | L 1-2 | GS-8 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 10 |
| Darryl Kile | 9/26/2001 | HOU | W 5-1 | GS-7 ,W | 7 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 10 |
| Darren Oliver | 8/3/1999 | SDP | W 6-0 | SHO9 ,W | 9 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 11 |
| Todd Stottlemyre | 5/11/1998 | MIL | W 7-0 | GS-8 ,W | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 |
| Alan Benes | 5/16/1997 | ATL | L 0-1 | GS-9 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 11 |
| Todd Stottlemyre | 5/15/1996 | FLA | W 6-0 | SHO9 ,W | 9 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 13 |
| Rheal Cormier | 1992-09-27 (1) | PHI | W 8-1 | CG 9 ,W | 9 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| Jose DeLeon | 8/8/1990 | CHC | L 3-4 | GS-8 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 |
| Joe Magrane | 6/22/1990 | CHC | W 7-0 | SHO9 ,W | 9 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 11 |
| Jose DeLeon | 6/9/1989 | CHC | W 1-0 | GS-8 ,W | 8 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 10 |
| Jose DeLeon | 9/6/1988 | MON | W 1-0 | SHO9 ,W | 9 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 12 |
| Bob Gibson | 1974-06-24 (2) | PIT | W 4-0 | SHO9 ,W | 9 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 11 |
| Bob Gibson | 8/28/1971 | CIN | W 4-0 | SHO9 ,W | 9 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 13 |
| Bob Gibson | 8/14/1971 | PIT | W 11-0 | SHO9 ,W | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 10 |
| Bob Gibson | 6/17/1970 | SDP | W 8-0 | SHO9 ,W | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 13 |
| Steve Carlton | 5/11/1970 | PHI | W 3-0 | SHO9 ,W | 9 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 |
| Bob Gibson | 8/28/1968 | PIT | W 8-0 | SHO9 ,W | 9 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 14 |
| Bob Gibson | 8/19/1968 | PHI | W 2-0 | SHO9 ,W | 9 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 11 |
| Bob Gibson | 6/15/1968 | CIN | W 2-0 | SHO9 ,W | 9 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 |
| Bob Gibson | 5/2/1967 | CIN | W 5-0 | SHO9 ,W | 9 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 12 |
| Bob Gibson | 5/20/1964 | CHC | W 1-0 | SHO9 ,W | 9 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| Ernie Broglio | 6/8/1963 | NYM | W 4-0 | SHO9 ,W | 9 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 10 |
| Bob Gibson | 8/8/1962 | PIT | W 2-0 | SHO9 ,W | 9 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 10 |
| Ray Sadecki | 1961-06-06 (2) | CHC | T 3-3 | CG 10 | 10 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 10 |
| Bob Gibson | 1961-05-21 (2) | CHC | W 3-0 | SHO9 ,W | 9 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 11 |
| Ernie Broglio | 7/15/1960 | CHC | W 6-0 | SHO9 ,W | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 14 |
| Vinegar Bend Mizell | 5/15/1959 | PHI | W 8-2 | CG 9 ,W | 9 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 10 |
| Harvey Haddix | 1954-06-13 (1) | PIT | W 5-0 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | |
| Vinegar Bend Mizell | 6/21/1952 | BSN | W 9-0 | SHO9 ,W | 9 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 11 |
As always, special thanks to Tom Orf for pulling the historical data shown above.
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Unrelated to the Carpenter essay above….good performances in the early going at Quad Cities.
Joe Kelly was a big armed position player at UC-Riverside converted into relief pitcher, like future Hall of Famer Troy Percival. The Cards may have been smart selecting Kelly in the 3rd round last June. His WHIP is 0.64 after 9 innings. (Another high velocity guy from Riverside is Adam Reifer, now at Springfield.)
Schneider continues smooth sailing in pro ball with a fantastic 0.33 WHIP through 9 innings.
40th rounder Simpson has a WHIP under 1. He signed out of College of Charleston, known for Ollie Marmol. Simpson spent two years at Univ. of Mississippi with Lance Lynn and Scott Bittle; he must have transferred to find more innings.
Eric Fornataro was a 6th rounder, stocky RHP. He finally seems in a groove.
Bonus babe Shelby Miller is in a tandem with Chris Notti. He is whiffing them at a rate of 18 per 9 innings.
Unheralded Jorge Rondon is punching out batters as well.
Another K artist is Deryk Hooker, showing signs of hitting his stride.
And in terms of position players…..
2009 5th rounder Ryan Jackson is a slick fielding SS and light hitter. He should be able to handle himself at this level and is doing so with a batting average of .333
2008 3rd rounder Niko Vasquez had a tough hitting 2008 while playing SS. With Jackson around, he has moved to 3B for now and has begun to gain confidence as a hitter, given another look at the Midwest League.
Brian tends to be skeptical of the OF prospects in the system because some project as 4th OF types, non-everyday ML players. One who does have a proto-typical body is Devin Shepherd, who is showing a little life with a 934 OPS. Andre Dawson was a great ML OF. The way to find another Dawson is sign a guy with a Dawson bod, like Shepherd, and get him out there playing. Jon Jay and Tyler Henley cannot evolve into future Andre Dawsons.
One reason Schneider lasted to the 20th round may be he was listed as 5’11″ at his college’s web site. For pitchers, teams factor height in terms of longterm projection, so a taller guy will get picked higher, all other factors remaining the same. By the time a team is down to the 20th round, it is looking for help in any size. Schneider started games on Saturdays for St Mary’s and pitched well, given that it plays in an offensive league.
In past years, college juniors like SS Jackson, C Stock, or RHP Schneider might have been assigned to Palm Beach at onset of their first full season. They should perform fairly well in the Midwest League, as they are.
Quad Cities is 9-2 to begin the year.
With Schneider, time will reveal if he is another Trey Hearne, 12-3 in the Midwest League in 2006 or another Brad Thompson, who played most of 5 seasons in the majors.
Big Devin grand slammed this afternoon. He is making Big Matt look like a wimp, no little feat.
I rare chance to watch AP’s mechanical struggles. On that third pich, off speed breaking pitch, his front shoulder just flew open, the swing followed as best it could from that awkward position. He touched an obvious mistake. I’m listening to the AZ feed. Can’t stand the ST Louis guys.
Shu goes right in Holidays face.
Westie, here is a little tip. When a guy hits the ball, his swing is going to look good. When he misses the ball, his swing is often going to look bad. This is just the way it is.
AZ hitters look so relaxed, good extension. They will score at least 6. Where are we going to get 7. Colby? Common Colby…………………..
Whenever R.Lopez puts the ball in the strike zone he gets it touched…………so he doesn’t throw many strikes……………………. If we could create some sort of need for him to throw strikes, I bet we might find a few pitches to drive. That’s all of you clowns…………….. they’re clearly pitching around Ryan and he takes a big cut 2/0……………..what ever. Shu put a nice swing away. Colby wouldn’t give up the pull even with to strikes…….so he watches his double away disappear for a walk in the pines.
Westie, sorry to break the bad news, but you are making these comments not in today’s game thread, but the thread reserved for the Quad Cities team. With Big Devin and Big Matt, the Cities team does not have the hitting difficulties about which you are an expert diagnotician as regards brain dysfunctions. All of your forthcoming keen and valuable observations about swings should be placed under today’s essay by Mr. Walton.
Matt and Devin continue to bash the ball. Supplemented by the pitchers Schneider, Kelly, and Rondon, the Quad Cities team has come out of the gates with a blistering 10-3 start, supporting my optimism this would prove to be a good team.