We all know the story with Sean Burnett, our 21-year-old finesse lefty. The Cardinals have no reason to fear him. Edgar Renteria will be looking for a big day.
Chris Carpenter might be the closest thing to a power starter the Cardinals have right now. He's been their ace, but he's not much of a power pitcher. Oliver Perez is averaging 10.76 Ks per 9 innings and Kip Wells is averaging 8.47 Ks per 9 innings. Carpenter, at 7.13, is the best the Redbirds appear to need in that department. He sports a mid-90s fastball with a nice curve, and he's had excellent control this year. None of the Pirates have seen much of Carpenter.
He's a good story since he's really battled back from injuries. He had arthroscopic shoulder surgery on his right (throwing) shoulder last July after aborting a comeback from surgery to repair a tear in labrum the previous fall. The Cardinals kept his pitch count under 100 for most of this year. They stretched him out in his last start, however: he threw 120 pitches and outpitched Matt Clement with eight shutout innings. Carpenter felt strong at the end:
"I felt better the last few innings than I did the first few," Carpenter said. "I'm going to keep on going. I feel comfortable. I feel like I don't run out of gas. I expect to pitch well and go deep into games."
Expect the Pirates to pound Carpenter in the early innings and score, I don't know, eight or twelve runs off him.
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