Carpenter Leads Cardinals Past Cubs, 5-3

CHICAGO -- To hear Cardinals second baseman Matt Carpenter tell it, he's either right there or a world away. The timing comes and goes, at-bat to at-bat, sometimes even in smaller intervals.

"On some pitches I feel like I'm on it," Carpenter said. "And others where I'm not."

All of this allowed Carpenter to consider his performance on Tuesday progress. Much of the night mirrored the strange start to his season, which has been chock-full of swings-and-misses, productive takes and little else. But in between he added some thump, his three RBIs proving the difference in the Cardinals' 5-3 win over the Cubs.

"Today was definitely a step in the right direction," he said.

Put simply, what Carpenter wants to be is a run-producer who doesn't sink with two strikes. And when the Cardinals and Cubs rekindled their storied rivalry on a frigid night at Wrigley Field, he was. Still slotted in the three-hole despite beginning the night with a .160 batting average through 15 games, Carpenter paced a Cardinals offense that struck out 14 times, with two two-strike hits.

"It was a little chilly," manager Mike Matheny said, chuckling.

The 116th year of play between the Cardinals and Cubs commenced with a game in which the air was cold, the bats slow and the baseballs tough to control. Game-time temperatures in the 30s, with a wind chill in the 20s, had hitters griping about feeling they were "swinging underwater." The starting pitchers combined to walk 11, with Chatwood issuing seven of those free passes. The two teams combined to strike out 23 and walk 16.

Wainwright had to go back to 2006 when trying to recall a colder game.

"Pretty dang cold," Wainwright said. "But once you get out there, you're hot."

Wainwright exited with a one-run lead that stood until Paul DeJong's solo home run off Pedro Strop pulled the Cardinals further ahead in the eighth. Carpenter capped the inning's three-run rally with his two-run single off Duensing before Javier Baez hit a two-run homer in the bottom half of the inning off Greg Holland.

That set the stage for Norris, who struck out three in recording the first five-out save of his career and the first by a Cardinals closer since 2016. In place of Holland, Norris improved to 4-for-4 in save chances and has now struck out 17 batters in 9 1/3 innings.

Ohtani Lasts Two Innings

Los Angeles Angels pitching phenom Shohei Ohtani lasted just two innings in his third start last night. Ohtani struggled with his control against the Boston Red Sox due to a blister on his throwing hand.

Tuesday, April 17 Scoreboard

St. Louis 5, Chicago Cubs 3

Oakland 10, Chicago White Sox 2

Toronto 11, Kansas City 3

Miami 9, New York Yankees 1

Detroit 4, Baltimore 2

Colorado 2, PIttsburgh 0

Toronto 5, Kansas City 4 (F/10)

Cleveland 6, Minnesota 1

Washington 5, New York Mets 2

Texas 7, Tampa Ba 2

Philadelphia 5,  Atlanta 1 (F/10)

Milwaukee 2, Cincinnati 0

Arizona 1, San Francisco 0

Boston 10, Los Angeles Angels 1

Houston 4, Seattle 1

Los Angeles Dodgers 7, San Diego 3 (F/12)

Wednesday, April 18 Schedule (All Times Central)

Colorado at Pittsburgh, 11:35 a.m.

Baltimore at Detroit, 12:10 p.m.

Texas at Tampa Bay, 12:10 p.m.

Cincinnati at Milwaukee, 12:40 p.m.

St. Louis at Chicago Cubs, 1:20 p.m.

Chicago White Sox at Oakland, 2:35 p.m.

Kansas City at Toronto, 3:07 p.m.

Cleveland at Minnesota, 6 p.m.

Washington at New York Mets, 6:10 p.m.

Philadelphia at Atlanta, 6:35 p.m.

San Frnacisco at Arizona, 8:40 p.m.

Boston at Los Angeles Angels, 9:07 p.m.

Houston at Seattle, 9:10 p.m.

Los Angeles Dodgers at San Diego, 9:10 p.m.