Carpenter comes to rescue in Cards' late comeback

ST. LOUIS -- Matt Carpenter returned to the Cardinals this offseason to bring an off-field presence that was lacking last year. On Saturday, he delivered on-field results.

Carpenter’s pinch-hit RBI single scored Alec Burleson to tie the game and ignited a four-run rally as the Cardinals held on for a 7-6 win over the Cubs at Busch Stadium.

“You don't want to just be a body in the clubhouse that's taking up space,” Carpenter said. “That voice can get kind of tired if you're not pulling your weight. So it's great to be able to have some success when the opportunities come, and tonight was a great team win.”

Carpenter helped provide a checkmate for Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol as the game evolved into a chess match in the late innings.

The decision-making began in earnest after Burleson and Nolan Gorman began the eighth with singles. Marmol could have pinch-ran for Burleson (who represented the tying run) with Dylan Carlson. But that would have burned Carlson for a possible high-leverage pinch-hit appearance later in the inning in case Cubs manager Craig Counsell decided to bring left-hander Drew Smyly in to face Michael Siani a few batters later.

“It wasn't easy because you want to pinch-run there for Burly, that's your best shot,” Marmol said. “But also it gets a little hairy there, they can go Smyly at Siani and you want D.C., who’s going to be your only runner for Burleson. It's your only upgrade, you want him to be able to take the at-bat from the right side if they do go lefty at Siani. So you're sitting there trying to hold that card.”

Right-hander Mark Leiter Jr. stayed in to face Siani with two outs and Burleson and Gorman still on second and first, respectively, prompting Marmol to bring in Carpenter. Taking his first at-bat in six days, Carpenter singled to right, scoring Burleson.

“I had a pretty good idea,” Carpenter said. “Oli and [bench coach Daniel Descalso] came to me early in the fifth and said to be ready for that. It presented itself, so yeah, started preparing down there, taking swings, trying to get my mind right for that potential at-bat.”

And Burleson made good on Marmol’s decision to leave him in, getting his hand to the plate just ahead of the tag by Cubs catcher Miguel Amaya.

“I didn't realize he had the ball in his hand,” Burleson said. “But I knew I'd got in between his two arms. I knew even if he tagged me with his glove, he had the ball in his hand, so I still would have been safe.”

Counsell challenged the safe call at home, but home-plate umpire Cory Blaser’s call was confirmed.

Burleson showed above-league-average speed, going from second to home in 7.31 seconds, his second-fastest second-to-home time this season, according to Statcast. His top sprint speed was 27.6 feet per second, his fastest all season.

“It was so close, I was just trying to get to the plate as fast as I could with my hand,” Burleson said.

Brendan Donovan had a good look at the play from the on-deck circle.

“Good jump off the bat, you know [Seiya] Suzuki's got a good arm and I had a pretty cool view for it,” Donovan said. “I'm telling him to get down. I see him looking at me, like, ‘Ah, I don't know.’ He was rolling around third.”

Donovan broke the tie with a two-run single and Lars Nootbaar eventually tripled him home.

JoJo Romero (2-0) earned the decision with 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief, while Ryan Helsley earned his 16th save after giving up a pair of runs in the ninth to the delight of (most of) the 45,071 in attendance.

“That’s what it is about right there, the place was packed and we put on a good show,” Marmol said. “The crowd was electric, man, and the players fed off of that.”

Cardinals starter Miles Mikolas pitched six innings, allowing three runs on four hits and striking out a season-high six batters.

Donovan and Nootbaar singled and scored in a two-run third inning. The Cardinals' top two hitters combined for five hits, three RBIs and three runs.

Masyn Winn extended his hitting streak to a career-high 14 games with a single in the fourth and doubled home Gorman in the sixth to tie it at 3.