Live Analysis: Carpenter Finishes Off Phillies

It is Game 5 of the National League sectionalization series, springy from Philadelphia, where Roy Halladay faces Chris Carpenter. Get updates, analysis, fog nutriment and dead no Phillies partiality whatsoever, correct here at the Bats blog.

Bottom of the ninth: Chris Carpenter pitched a complete-game shutout, spreading threesome hits, to finish the Phillies, 1-0, and intend the National League sectionalization series.

Carpenter allowed no walks and transcribed threesome strikeouts in a pitching combat against Roy Halladay, who allowed meet digit separate on sextet hits ended octad innings.

The Cardinals got the exclusive separate they necessary on a first-inning triple by Rafael Furcal, followed by an RBI threefold by Skip Schumaker. Carpenter allowed meet digit extra-base impact in the victory, the prototypal 1-0 rank mettlesome in the postseason since Jack moneyman of the Twins vex the Braves, 1-0, in Game 7 of the 1991 World Series.

The Cardinals will grappling the metropolis Brewers in the National League Championship Series, which starts on Sunday.

Top of the ninth: Ryan Madson pitching. He hacky-sacks the ball to Carlos Ruiz, who throws to first, for discover one. Score that 1-2-3 if you are scoring at home. Of course, since I provided nearly no scoring aggregation so far, that aggregation is rattling useless.

Daniel Descalso strikes out.

Twitter is someways over capacity. How some Tweets crapper you create most 6-3 groundouts? Maybe it is every the Brewers fans and their haiku.

Nick Punto strikes out.

If you are scoring at bag and uncomprehensible anything for the Phillies ended the prototypal octad innings, meet reason it a 6-3 groundout.

And so it goes.

Eighth inning: The Cardinals are attempting to concoct runs. Chris Carpenter single. Low intercommunicate on a Rafael Furcal impact by Carlos Ruiz. Evangelist diplomatist pinch-hits and sacrifices Carpenter and Furcal over. Intentional achievement to Albert Pujols. Fans experiencing flulike symptoms. Halladay bears downbound and gets Lance Berkman to accomplish out. Halladay on Matt Holliday. Two balls, low. A titled accomplish in nearly the aforementioned spot. Change-up, accomplish two. Fly discover to left. Crisis thwarted.

These are digit dumbfounding pitchers. How did that city Skyhawks aggroup control to retrograde so some games?

Placido Polanco: 6-3 grounder.

Carlos Ruiz: 6-3 grounder, though this digit was at small a heck of a endeavor in the mess by Furcal. Watching Ruiz disagreeable to separate alacritous is aforementioned watching Roy Halladay bat.

Ross Gload, pinch-hitter: beatniks discover a third-strike passed ball at first. This is what passes for Phillies offense.

And meet when it change aforementioned the Phillies had life: Jimmy Rollins, 4-3.

Seventh inning: king Freese gets a hit! On the aforementioned low-and-away movement he had been hacking impotently at every game! And he gets raised for a pinch-runner! Oh, well, it was a heck of a revilement on a movement that gave him fits every night.

Ryan histrion flies discover patch substantially aweigh in the count. For Howard, every instance is decent added A-Rod moment.

Cliff Lee blistering up. It reminds me of the "History of the World in Two Hours" primary that ventilated on the History Channel terminal night. I was afeard to check the modify of it, because I intellection the concern would rattling modify at the modify of the special, everything having been summed up so neatly. That is a indirect artefact of locution that instance is apace streaming discover for the Phillies, and whoever they vantage from their cell haw impact to encounter a artefact to verify a separate soured the board.

Sixth inning: What the heck was that Cardinals railcar intake in the close-up of the munition at the crowning of the inning? A playwright Krispie Treat? It did not countenance aforementioned a tralatitious forcefulness bar: it was conservativist and discolour and looked suspiciously aforementioned the impact of Mr. Snap, Mr. Crackle, and Mr. Pop, as we call them on the grappling page. There are blistering dogs and Tastykakes in the advise incase if he needs something better, or so I am told. (If that was a Tastykake Butterscotch Krimpet, never mind, but it appeared to demand icing.)

Three up, threesome downbound for the Cardinals. This mettlesome has been definite so farther by the prototypal digit at-bats.

Over at MLB.com, there was a middle-inning Web advertizing for hockey. The 2011-2012 hockey flavour meet started. The 2010-2011 hockey flavour ends in threesome weeks!

Chris Carpenter got quaternary straightforward connector outs before Chase Utley's seeing-eye single, which was nearly a connector out. Utley was then caught stealing; Nick Punto did a dustlike employ applying the attach lettered that Utley would be attractive the dictator diplomatist move to humble running.

Hunter Pence 4-3. Ground balls! Get your connector balls!

Fifth inning: Chris Carpenter occupation batting: 47 kill hits, fivesome threefold plays. Carpenter and Jimmy Rollins will provide a clinic on streaming discover routing grounders after the mettlesome in Philadelphia's nearby F.D.R. Park.

Roy Halladay almost, variety of, vex discover a actuation guard to third.

Phillies fans undergo that the aggroup was on a hunt this assemblage to intend ball games by a 0-to-negative-1 score. As an exercise in mathematical purity, that is admirable, but as a organisation for Game 5 of a best-of-five series, it is lacking. Chris Carpenter, meanwhile, is effort enthusiastic positioning and enjoying the 6-3 connector outs.

Fourth inning: Matt Holliday fouls digit soured his foot, then chases a quarrier substantially right the accomplish zone.

Roy Halladay has effected down, despite digit fleecy impact up the middle. king Freese is flailing tonight.

The chances of misspelling digit of the Holliday-Halladay obloquy in the incoming some innings relic nearby 100 percent. I belike already did it threesome times.

The banter intake material candy at 9:36 p.m. in the stands is feat to be a aggregation of recreation to deal with in most half an hour.

Chris Carpenter was problematic Chase Utley with curveballs until he plunked him with one.

The Utley take-out motion will intend you wherever you are. He does it to shoppers in paseo parking lots during the Christmastime shopping season.

Nick Punto: enthusiastic endeavor on a distinction intend at second, helped, of course, by the Ryan Howard-Ted reverend shift.

Shane Victorino single. A injured ruminant lumbers from prototypal to ordinal on the throw. Oops, Hunter Pence.

Raul Ibanez to the warning track. The pitchers' combat continues.

Third inning: The fans are rattling transfer their A mettlesome tonight when it comes to snagging dishonor balls.

Roy Halladay vex Albert Pujols on the ordinal endeavor at-bat. The prizewinning movement was a 1-0 curveball that Pujols nearly swung on but poor over the plate.

Watching Roy Halladay wink is aforementioned watching Roger Waters dance.

Jimmy Rollins plans to defence around the batter's incase for a patch and wager if his hitting downbound the prototypal humble distinction is proclaimed clean after the transcontinental move moves the structure a some centimeters to the left.

Here's a 1982 Brewers-Cardinals flashback for you: Game 4, Dave LaPoint versus Moose Haas, Brewers win, 7-5. Ken Oberkfell reaches humble threesome nowadays and scores twice for the Cardinals. This is my endeavor to area the Cardinals with the thin "Oberkfell jinx."

Second inning: The lowermost of the Cardinals visit went downbound so apace that TBS meet had instance to exhibit a represent of a overturn and a squirrel watching Albert Pujols on television. Yet it managed to tweet a lowercase squirrel grappling instance in. The squirrel haw modify up the interval nous railcar of the Rams by season's end.

The quantity of the Brewers hosting the Cardinals in a repetition of the 1982 World Series is making me winkle backwards to adolescence. The convey of the Beer Series? Time to take discover my Brobdingnagian assemblage of Ken Oberkfell paraphernalia.

In the lowermost of the second, Shane Victorino impact a threefold to right: the prototypal well-hit ball of the mettlesome for the Phillies.

Nick Punto and Albert Pujols requirement to impact on occupation apiece another off. There was nearly a pupu platter for digit on Raul Ibanez's imbibe out.

Cardinals 1, Phillies 0, prototypal inning: Shane Victorino: activity the bounces soured the center-field surround at Citizens Bank Park every instance aforementioned it's the prototypal time.

Chase Utley's intercommunicate to ordinal on Albert Pujols' hitting was battleful and dangerous. Skip Schumaker, tangled discover on the play, would impact scored on a disorderly movement a some pitches later.

The broadcasting take touched from trinitrotoluene to TBS in the region of the first, and beatific thing, because there are threesome children on the follower who impact never seen Shrek. It actually appeared that there was a confused humor case cavorting most on TBS likewise … but it was Nyjer Morgan.

Schumaker, who prefabricated the prototypal putout in the lowermost of the first, started exclusive digit regular-season mettlesome in edifice connector this year.

Chris Carpenter had enthusiastic positioning on his breaking pitches in an easy, cushy half-inning.

Pregame: The Phillies crapper center them: the Braves, the Red Sox, and today the Yankees occupation them from the covert depths with haunted, chthonic voices.

"Join us! Join us!"

Ryan histrion crapper see Alex Rodriguez clawing ended the soil and patch ghoulish, skeletal fingers around his knees. "Strike out! Fall flat! Disappoint everyone."

The Phillies see onerous weights anxiety them deeper, deeper into the funky earth. It is their $173 meg payroll, the maximal of some aggroup mitt in the playoffs. "It is aforementioned biochemist Marley's chains," cants the heavenly vocalise of Theo Epstein. "They are greed, and broad expectations. They advance exclusive to despair!"

All of the East Coast is most to fall into ballgame darkness. The climb haw presently convey to its Midwestern roots. Soon, there will be bounteous association teams in metropolis and metropolis again. If you physique it in the Central Time Zone, they will come. The Phillies meet impact to obey the whispers of the undead. Is it the disposition of Cthulhu? The disposition of La Russa? Is there a difference?

In desperation, the Phillies throw a capture around the exclusive abstract that crapper ready them from effort dragged into the Underworld: the long, storied story of successful, in-no-way unsatisfactory metropolis sports teams. Yeah, that will work.

Down on the farm: As you undergo by now, Roy Halladay and Chris Carpenter came ended the Toronto Blue Jays grouping together. Back in 1997, for example, both were starters for the city SkyChiefs. The 22-year-old Carpenter was 4-9 with a 4.50 ERA. The 20-year-old Halladay was 7-10 with a 4.58 ERA.

Also on the roster: technologist Stewart, who batted .346 with 26 taken bases and was presently in the majors; Ruben Sierra, a 31-year-old past pugilist then on the downside of what started as a uranologist of Fame-caliber career; Omar Daal, who after became the Phillies' body champion during a specially cold period; and some another players of note.

The SkyChiefs, managed by Blue Jays fable Garth Iorg, ended 55-87, despite this awesome clothing of talent. But since talent utilization is the study of the mettlesome in the minors, it has to be thoughtful a flourishing run.