CHICAGO -- The strange start to Matt Carpenter's season has come chock-full of swings-and-misses, productive takes and little else. Tuesday again provided those first two categories, in spades. But Carpenter also added some thump in between.
Carpenter's three RBIs proved to be the difference as the 116th year of play between the Cardinals and Cubs began on a frigid night at Wrigley Field. Carpenter's RBI double opened the scoring in the second, and his two-run single in the eighth provided St. Louis much-needed insurance in a 5-3 win.
The Cardinals' fifth win in a row came on a night when the air was cold, the bats slow and the baseballs tough to control.