Carp comes up big in a pinch in finale

No. Not this time. No way, and not for Matt Carpenter especially.

Phillies right fielder Roman Quinn lept back toward the fence. He had it. He had the home run ball in his glove. He was committing another thievery in a season full of them for Carpenter, bitten by bad luck and bad aerodynamics at the outset of the year.

Something had to give, the Cardinals have preached this season. Someone hitting the ball as hard as Carpenter cannot continue to be as fruitless as he has been, with just four hits on the season entering Thursday’s 4-3 walk-off win in 10 innings (on a wild pitch, no less) against the Phillies at Busch Stadium.

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Something gave. Maybe it was the wind. Maybe it was leather just a tad too slick in Quinn’s glove, or maybe it was the higher powers in baseball.

Carpenter’s ball landed in the Cardinals' bullpen.

“It's amazing all the different thoughts you can have in that short a span,” said St. Louis manager Mike Shildt.

Carpenter rounded the bases, received another curtain call and gave his team a lead off the bench, pinch-hitting for starter Kwang Hyun Kim after Kim's five frames of one-run ball and finally breaking through against Phillies ace Aaron Nola, who held the Cards scoreless in his first 13 2/3 innings against them this season.

“Adam Wainwright texted me from home and said that if [Quinn] would have caught that ball, he would have retired,” Carpenter said. “And I told him, ‘No, I’m pretty sure I would have retired.’”

In the moment, it was enough to give the Cardinals a lead they ultimately squandered ... until they earned it right back, when a wild pitch in the 10th allowed Tyler O'Neill to score from third. A dynamite outfield assist from Dylan Carlson in the top of the frame -- tracked at a torrid 92.6 mph (the second-fastest assist by a Cardinal since 2019) -- was needed to get them there. All came following an ejection of Shildt after Nolan Arenado was plunked by a pitch in the ninth, though the skipper said his tossing was due to arguing balls and strikes.

In the macro, it was a moment. One of too few for Carpenter this season, he, the fans, the front office and the coaching staff feel.

Carpenter saw several of his Statcast metrics soar through most of April, and he ranked among the top in the league in hard-hit percentage, average exit velocity and barrel percentage, among other statistics. The gulfs between his predictive and raw stats, however, were growing too stark to ignore.

Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak issued a challenge of sorts on Friday, saying that the club needed to see some results from Carpenter over the next seven to 14 days as it tries to find some type of solidified role for the three-time All-Star over the remainder of the season.

One home run will not likely change Carpenter's status -- mainly as a bench bat with occasional spot starts -- especially as some players return from the injured list to dry out nightly opportunities. But as much as the Cardinals feel for Carpenter the individual, they appreciate Carpenter the teammate, always willing to adapt to any role necessary after nine seasons as a full-time player.

“He wants to be in there every day and still does, but liking it and accepting it can be two different things,” Shildt said. “You don't have to like it, but you appreciate the fact that he accepts it as a professional and doesn't let it affect him.”

On Thursday, that opportunity came partly expected. With Nola -- who pitched a shutout against the Cardinals on April 18 -- Carpenter braced for the ace to get deep, which would allow him to face the right-hander at some point as a pinch-hitter.

Knowing such, Carpenter prepared in the third inning by hitting the curveball machine in the batting cages. As much as he expected to face Nola, Carpenter expected a hefty diet of curves should runners be on base. The right-hander admitted that in hindsight, he should have realized Carpenter may be sitting on a curve.

“The situation came to fruition,” Carpenter said, after he lifted Nola's 0-1 knuckle-curve 387 feet into right field.

Quinn had it. Shildt grimaced. Carpenter “was saying the Lord’s Prayer.” The 13,159 at Busch Stadium rose in cautious optimism.

And then Quinn didn’t have it anymore.

For all of Carpenter’s misfortune, this ball -- not nearly the hardest he’s scorched, not nearly the farthest he’s smacked -- had an expected batting average of .380.

“It feels like I was due,” Carpenter said, “for catching a break.”