Chris Carpenter capped an unbeatable streak with a nearly unhittable performance.
On Sept. 7, 2009, Carpenter won his 11th consecutive decision, pitching a one-hitter in a 3-0 Cardinals triumph over the Brewers at Miller Park in Milwaukee.
The win gave Carpenter a season record of 16-3 with a 2.16 ERA.
It was the second one-hitter of Carpenter’s major-league career. The other occurred on June 14, 2005, against his former team, the Blue Jays, at Toronto.
Mow ’em down
The Labor Day game between the Cardinals and Brewers matched Carpenter against David Bush. who had lost his last six decisions.
In the first inning, Carpenter walked Felipe Lopez with two outs. He retired the next 11 batters before Jody Gerut hit a double to deep left field. A left-handed batter, Gerut told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch the hit was “dumb luck.”
Carpenter retired another 11 in a row before Craig Counsell led off the ninth with a walk. Corey Patterson batted next and grounded into a double play. Carpenter got Frank Catalanotto to ground out, ending the game.
Albert Pujols provided Carpenter with run support, hitting a two-run double against Bush in the fifth and scoring a run on Matt Holliday’s RBI-single against Mark DiFelice in the eighth. Boxscore
In command
Carpenter struck out 10 and was ahead in the count most of the time.
“I’m not wasting pitches,” Carpenter said to the Post-Dispatch. “I’m trying to get strike one, strike two, strike three as fast as I can, or get you to put the ball in play and let my guys work behind me.”
Said Brewers manager Ken Macha: “That was a clinic on how to move your fastball around, cutting it in, cutting it away, sinking it away from lefties and in on righties while mixing his curveball.”
Gerut, whose hit came on a first-pitch fastball, told the Associated Press, “You just hope you get a mistake because most of the time he puts it where he wants it.”
Carpenter, 34, completed the 2009 season with a 17-4 record and led the National League in ERA at 2.24.
I’ve always wondered, if Chris Carpenter had come up with the Cardinals farm system, with the coaches we had during that era, how many games could he have won here in St.louis?
Interestingly, in the 1993 baseball amateur draft, the Blue Jays had the 15th selection of the 1st round and the Cardinals were next at 16th. The Blue Jays drafted Chris Carpenter, just ahead of the Cardinals, with their No. 15 pick in the 1st round and the Cardinals picked next and took Alan Benes.