St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Chris Carpenter delivers a pitch to the Chicago Cubs in the second inning against the Chicago Cubs at Busch Stadium in St. Louis on June 5, 2011.
Matt Carpenter always tries to stay ready, keeping an assortment of gloves nearby. That's his job.
The St. Louis Cardinals' utilityman took on a new role in Game 3 of the NL championship series: game-changer.
Carpenter hit a two-run homer after subbing for Carlos Beltran and the Cardinals chased Matt Cain before a 3 1/2-hour rain delay in the seventh inning of a 3-1 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday night for a 2-1 series lead.
St. Louis Cardinals David Freese celebrates with his teammates at home place after hitting a solo walk off homerun to win game 6 of the World Series in the 11th inning on Oct. 27, 2011. The Cardinals went on to win the series.
Carlos Beltran and David Freese each hit two-run homers and the St. Louis Cardinals held on to beat the San Francisco Giants 6-4 Sunday night in Game 1 of the NL championship series.
The wild-card Cardinals took an early 6-0 lead and made it stand up. Two days earlier, St. Louis overcame a 6-0 deficit to beat Washington in the deciding Game 5 of the division series.
Game 2 in the best-of-seven series is tonight. Chris Carpenter pitches for the Cardinals against Ryan Vogelsong.