Cardinals, Carpenter save best for last
After playing eight consecutive nail-biters, the Cardinals finished their regular season with a laugher and laughed best as they clinched the wild card Wednesday night. And Chris Carpenter saved his best game for last, striking out 11 and walking only one for a fielding-independent game score of 76. It was his best game of the season and the fifth-best of his illustrious career:
| Rk | Date | Tm | Opp | IP | BF | BB | SO | HR | FIGS |
| 1 | 6/25/05 | STL | PIT | 9 | 29 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 80 |
| 2 | 5/25/09 | STL | MIL | 8 | 25 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 79 |
| 3 | 9/4/01 | TOR | NYY | 9 | 33 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 78 |
| 4 | 7/17/05 | STL | HOU | 9 | 28 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 77 |
| 5 | 4/5/01 | TOR | TBD | 8 | 27 | 1 | 11 | 0 | 76 |
| 5 | 6/14/05 | STL | TOR | 9 | 28 | 1 | 10 | 0 | 76 |
| 5 | 9/28/11 | STL | HOU | 9 | 30 | 1 | 11 | 0 | 76 |
| 8 | 9/5/10 | STL | CIN | 7 1/3 | 29 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 75 |
| 9 | 9/7/09 | STL | MIL | 9 | 29 | 2 | 10 | 0 | 72 |
| 9 | 8/12/09 | STL | CIN | 7 | 29 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 72 |
| 9 | 7/16/98 | TOR | CHW | 8 | 29 | 1 | 10 | 0 | 72 |
Granted, the Astros barely qualify as a major-league team, but then again, they have still beaten someone 56 times this season, and Carp did what he was supposed to do.
In a week of high, late-inning drama, the finale was a fait accompli early on, with the only suspense being the Braves’ game. The late-season run of high-tension games will prepare the team well for the Philies, against whom they can expect more of the same grinding, late-resolution “hard nine” type — and less of the blowout variety that they used to punctuate their regular season Wednesday.