Chris Carpenter didn't look good in the first inning against the Washington Nationals, and he didn't look great in the second. But the St. Louis Cardinals' longtime ace escaped from both innings, striking out Michael Morse in the first inning and getting a pop-up from Edwin Jackson in the second, and in the meantime shortstop Pete Kozma reached Jackson with a three-run homer that gave the Cardinals' starter a 4-0 lead.
So, however he did it, Chris Carpenter threw three shutout innings. Which led some enterprising tweeters—here's B.J. Rains as a for instance—to point out what Carpenter's done in his career with a 4-0 lead. Hint: It's really neat.
Chris Carpenter is a combined 77-2 in his career in the regular season and playoffs when pitching with a four-run lead. #stlcards
— B.J. Rains (@BJRains) October 10, 2012
Of course, most pitchers do pretty well with a four-run lead, and Chris Carpenter doesn't normally look this vulnerable. These stats are never quite so telling as they appear at first. But for now, it's more comfort than you might have been expecting going into this crucial Game 3.