Carpenter roughed up for 6 runs in 1st
March 19, 2010
JUPITER, Fla. (AP)—Albert Pujols(notes) hit his first home run of the spring, butright-hander Chris Carpenter(notes) was pounded for seven runs Friday in the St. LouisCardinals’ 7-6 loss to the Florida Marlins.
Carpenter gave up six runs on seven hits in the first inning. He threw 21 ofhis 29 pitches in the first inning for strikes, and the Marlins didn’t miss.Eleven batters came to the plate, with Chris Coghlan(notes) singling twice in theinning.
“I think he’d be the first one to say he probably didn’t have the stuff henormally has,” Coghlan said about Carpenter. “He’s so good that if you don’tcapitalize when you have him on the ropes then it’s going to be tough to gethim.”
After Coghlan and Emilio Bonifacio(notes) led off the first with singles, Dan Uggla(notes)hit a soft, potential force-out grounder to short, but Bonifacio beat the throwto second and Uggla was given a fielder’ choice, loading the bases.
Rookie Logan Morrison(notes), trying to win the first base job, followed with atwo-run double.
“You don’t want to see six runs on seven hits in one inning. I never wantto see that. I don’t care what situation you’re in,” said Carpenter, who cameinto the game with a 5.40 ERA over his first two starts. “Fortunately theydon’t put those numbers on the back of your baseball card so you don’t have toconcern yourself with them.”
Anibal Sanchez(notes), in line to be the Marlins’ No. 3 starter, allowed two runson four hits in five innings for the win.
“I thought he pounded the strike zone. I thought he did a nice job,”Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez said.
But Gonzalez didn’t like Sanchez’s approach against Pujols. He walked theslugger on four pitches in the first inning, then gave up a home run on a 3-1pitch in their second meeting before striking Pujols out in the fifth.
Pujols’ home run, with two outs in the third inning, landed well beyond theleft field wall in front of the Marlins’ clubhouse building. It was theslugger’s first home run since Sept. 9.
“He went after him,” Gonzalez said about Sanchez’s approach againstPujols, “but he went into a three-ball count three times with him.”
The Cardinals scored four runs in the seventh inning against right-handerJose Veras(notes), a favorite to win a bullpen job. Veras, making his third appearanceof the spring, had pitched a scoreless sixth inning.
“We’re trying to stretch those relievers and I think I might have got him alittle fatigued,” Gonzalez said. “I thought his fastball had some life to it,his breaking ball had some sharpness.”
Scott Strickland pitched a scoreless ninth inning for the save.
NOTES: Gonzalez said he expects six of seven bullpen spots to go to Veras,Leo Nunez(notes), Brian Sanches(notes), Dan Meyer(notes), Renyel Pinto(notes) and Burke Badenhop(notes). … TheMarlins optioned LHP Taylor Tankersley(notes), who’s coming back from April 2009 elbowsurgery, to Triple-A New Orleans.