Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action with a quick nod to what is ahead.You Oughta Know ...
Chris Carpenter may win one of the closest NL Cy Young races in years, but his final start of the regular season will be better remembered for what he did with that bat.
The right-hander threw five shutout innings in a 13-0 win over the Reds. Six of those Cardinal runs were driven in by Carpenter, who hit the first home run of his career, a grand slam, in the second inning. He added a two-run double later.
"That was one of the funner days I've ever had," Carpenter said. ... "I think the only other home run I hit had to be in high school. I was a really good hitter, I guess, but I grew up in New Hampshire, and we didn't see many 90 mph fastballs."
The win kept St. Louis in striking distance of Philadelphia and home-field advantage in the first round of the playoffs. The Cardinals are a game behind the Phillies in the standings, but because Philadelphia won the season series between the two clubs, St. Louis must pass Philly in the standings to host the first two games of the NLDS.
From the Trainer's Room ...
Bad news for the Phillies' rapidly thinning relief corps. Chan Ho Park, sidelined since Sept. 16 with a strained right hamstring, re-aggravated the injury in an instructional league game. Park faced five hitters and recorded just two outs before removing himself from the appearance. The right-hander will be re-evaluated in Philadelphia, but it certainly doesn't bode well with less than a week to go before the Phillies open the playoffs.
"Evidently, he didn't do real good," Charlie Manuel said before tonight's game. "They told me he got two outs and that he had to leave the game That don't sound good."Numbers Game ...
Things weren't much better for another Philadelphia pitcher. Reigning AL Cy Young Award winner Cliff Lee was shaky in his final start before the National League Division Series, allowing three earned runs over 5 2/3 innings in a 5-3 loss to the Phillies. Lee, who was traded from Cleveland to Philly just before the July 31 trade deadline, was dazzling in his first five starts with his new team, going 5-0 with a 0.68 ERA. Since then, he's 2-4 with a 6.13 ERA.
"There's a few games I'd like to take back," Lee said. "For the most part, I feel pretty good about how I've done. I'm excited to see what (the playoffs) are all about. I have to try not to let the heat of the moment and the emotions get the best of me, and focus on getting hitters out."In Their Own Words ...
"You can't throw behind their players and expect nothing to happen. If I'm going to get hit, it's going to be because I did something stupid." -- Delmon Young, who was hit behind the knee by Tigers pitcher Jeremy Bonderman in Minnesota's 8-3 win over Detroit. Young showed his anger at the pitch, and both benches cleared, but the Twins outfielder was angry with his own teammate, rookie reliever Jose Mijares, who threw behind Adam Everett's back earlier in the game.
Advance Scouting ...
The Rockies and Dodgers have both punched their tickets to the postseason, but they still have the little matter of the NL West to settle. Colorado comes to Los Angeles Friday night (10:10 PM ET) for the final three games of the season, and it will have to sweep to steal the division away from Joe Torre's club. The Dodgers come into the series cold, having lost four straight, but they have dominated the season series, taking 12 of 15 from the Rockies in 2009.
