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Behind Vazquez, Braves seal sweep
Big inning against Carpenter more than enough for righty
By Mark Bowman / MLB.com
09/13/09 7:05 PM ET
ST. LOUIS -- Javier Vazquez's masterpiece didn't conclude with the shutout he seemed destined to complete. But the Braves' right-hander felt rewarded enough with the eye-opening, two-out third-inning rally that his teammates produced against Chris Carpenter.Given that they did so against Carpenter, the Braves might have been dealing with something even greater than two-out magic during the six-run inning that allowed them to complete a three-game sweep of the Cardinals with a 9-2 win at Busch Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
"I had a feeling that Javy was going to deal today," said Matt Diaz, who capped the incredible third inning with a two-run single. "I just had a feeling that Carpenter would, too. He just ran into a tough third of an inning, and we were able to capitalize."
This was one-third of an inning unlike any others encountered by Carpenter, whose only previous experience of surrendering six runs in a frame occurred on Aug. 4, 1998, against the Rangers while he was pitching for the Blue Jays.
After needing just 10 pitches to retire the first two batters he faced, the veteran right-hander saw the Braves record six hits and plate their first six runs within a span of 22 pitches.
"It was one of the most amazing two-out rallies that I've seen, especially off a pitcher of that caliber," said Diaz in reference to Carpenter, who had gone 11-0 with a 1.97 ERA during his previous 13 starts and put himself at the forefront of any discussions about the National League Cy Young Award.
Had the Cardinals not started their two-run ninth inning with four consecutive hits, Vazquez's 22nd complete-game effort also would have been accurately described as "amazing."
Through the first eight innings, Vazquez surrendered just two hits -- both to Skip Schumaker -- and totaled 79 pitches. The only time he encountered a three-ball count was against Jason LaRue in the eighth.
"It's one of the best games I've ever seen pitched through eight innings," Atlanta manager Bobby Cox said. "It reminded me of some of the [Greg] Maddux games, where he'd have 75 or 80 pitches going into the eighth or ninth inning. He had them off-balance all day long. It's unfortunate that he didn't get the shutout, the way that he pitched."
Having completed this 5-1 road trip with their first sweep of the Cardinals since the 2003 season, the Braves realize how unfortunate it was that their postseason hopes were severely damaged last weekend, when they were swept by the Reds.
The same offense that totaled five runs against Cincinnati's pitchers came into St. Louis and managed to beat both Joel Pineiro, who hadn't lost since June 28, and Carpenter, who hadn't surrendered more than five hits in any of his previous four starts against Atlanta. Before Saturday, the Cardinals hadn't lost consecutive games since July 26.
"The one thing we've learned in baseball is the one thing that you think can't happen usually does," said Diaz, who is among the Braves who understand that they may still be facing insurmountable deficits in both the National League East and NL Wild Card races.
On his way to matching a career-best four-hit performance, Nate McLouth started the third-inning rally with a looping two-out single to center. Combined with Kelly Johnson's second-inning single, Carpenter already surrendered more hits than he had during the shutout he tossed against the Brewers in his previous outing.
"It started innocently. We were happy that [Cardinals center fielder Colby] Rasmus didn't dive for Nate's ball out in center," Diaz said. "Didn't [Carpenter] just come off a one-hit shutout or something like that? So it was like, 'OK, we've got our two hits. Anything else will be better than the last team.'"
Things certainly got better when Martin Prado followed with a single that was followed two batters later with Adam LaRoche's two-run double. The quick-strike attack concluded with Johnson sandwiching a double between singles provided by Yunel Escobar and Diaz.
"When the guys score that many runs off Carpenter, it's easier to go out there knowing that one run isn't going to beat you," said Vazquez, who was 2-7 with a 4.21 ERA in 10 previous starts against the Cardinals.
Vazquez surrendered a first-inning leadoff single to Schumaker and then retired 17 consecutive batters before Schumaker recorded a two-out sixth-inning single. The St. Louis second baseman also produced a leadoff single in the ninth, during which Albert Pujols found fortune via left fielder Reid Gorecki's decision to let his single fall in front of him. The Braves limited Pujols to two hits in 12 at-bats this weekend.
"It would have been great to throw a shutout against Carpenter," Vazquez said. "But the bottom line is that I won the game. That's what we're trying to do around here -- win games."
Mark Bowman is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
