CARDS WIN GAME 3 OF THE WORLD SERIES

CARDS WIN 5-0

series now 2-1, 2 more games to win! let's hope they can do it in the next two games at home and not in detroit!

recap-

ST. LOUIS -- Two days after facing a Mickey Lolich revival act in this 1968 rematch, the Cardinals trotted out their modern-day version of Bob Gibson. Chris Carpenter pitched eight dominating innings in the first World Series start of his career, pitching the Cardinals to a 5-0 win over the Tigers in Game 3 of the Fall Classic and giving his team a two-games-to-one lead.
Carpenter not only shut out the Tigers during his stint, he completely shut them down. The St. Louis ace and 2005 Cy Young winner displayed blistering stuff and impeccable command en route to his fifth win in six lifetime postseason decisions. Carpenter missed the 2004 World Series due to a nerve injury in his right biceps, and he was ready to make the most of his chance this time around.

He was bolstered by a two-run double from another big-game Cardinal, Jim Edmonds, and a two-run error by Detroit reliever Joel Zumaya. The Cardinals didn't always make the most of their offensive chances, but those two key plays were more than enough for a vintage Carpenter.

The New Hampshire native, unbowed by chilly conditions -- it was 43 degrees at game time -- delivered a firm statement of purpose from the start. Carpenter struck out Curtis Granderson to open the game on a curveball -- the pitch that gave him the most trouble in his only loss of these playoffs. After Craig Monroe flied out, he got ahead of Placido Polanco, 0-2, on a pair of hard, diving sinkers, one of which touched 95 mph, before Polanco grounded out.

And it was like that all night.

Carpenter retired the game's first seven batters before Brandon Inge singled up the middle, but he stranded Inge at third after a sacrifice and a wild pitch. He set down another seven in a row before Sean Casey notched the second hit, but struck out Inge to end that inning.

Even an apparent hand cramp couldn't slow Carpenter. The game was briefly delayed with one out in the seventh as manager Tony La Russa and head athletic trainer Barry Weinberg inspected Carpenter's hand, but he retired the next two batters to show that he was just fine. No Tiger reached second base after Inge, and Detroit never got the leadoff man on base against Carpenter.

So it was that a little offense was more than enough. The Cards actually looked like they were going to get a lot more than a little offense when they loaded the bases with no outs in the fourth inning. Edmonds' one-out double down the line made it 2-0, but that was all the Cards would get. After an intentional walk to Yadier Molina, Tigers starter Nate Robertson induced popups from the next two batters to escape.

It was still 2-0 in the seventh when Zumaya got himself in deep trouble -- but almost got himself out of it as well. A pair of walks brought up Albert Pujols with two on and no outs, but Pujols hit a comebacker right at Zumaya -- the kind of ball that should have gone for at least two outs. Instead, Zumaya simply threw it away on his attempt for a force at third, and both runners scored while Pujols motored all the way to second.

note- i posted before final stats were in for the game- UPDATE in the 8th Zach Miner threw a wild pitch that Ivan Rodriguez missed the catch allowing So Taguchi to run home and score run 5.