BALTIMORE • A benefit of the designated hitter is not just the ability to get an everyday player a break from the field, but the wraparound it assures at the end of every lineup.
Some AL teams set it up as a double leadoff.
Regardless, what it set up for the Cardinals in the third inning Friday night at Oriole Park was a chance to put runners on ahead of their leadoff hitter, their former No. 3 hitter and their former No. 2 hitter, Matt Carpenter. Carpenter was, technically, batting third in the inning, and the players ahead of him gave him a chance to do damage.