Chris Carpenter
Chris Carpenter
Christopher John "Chris" Carpenteris an American retired professional baseball starting pitcher. He played 15 seasons in Major League Baseballfor the Toronto Blue Jays and St. Louis Cardinals from 1997 to 2012. A Cy Young Award winner and two-time World Series champion, he was also a three-time All-Star selection. In addition, he was twice named the Sporting News National League Pitcher of the Year, and voted for a number of Comeback Player of the Year awards for surmounting injury...
ProfessionBaseball Player
Date of Birth27 April 1975
CityExeter, NH
I felt like I kept the ball down in the strike zone, and that's why I was getting those ground balls,
I felt good. I definitely felt better than my last two starts mechanically. My sinker was better. My cutter was better. My command was better. What allowed me to finish the game was taking the ninth like it was the first. If you rush through the ninth trying to get outs, you're not going to complete that game.
I was cruising along and I felt like I was throwing the ball well, and got there in the seventh and all of a sudden I started getting some balls up and it got away from me. No matter who you face, you're going to give up hits if you don't execute pitches down in the zone.
I really felt that there was more in there, ... When I came back last year, I knew I wasn't going to take anything for granted. ... Mentally, I grew up a lot.
I felt relaxed, ... I felt confident. When I was in trouble, I wasn't concerned about it. I was really focused on what I needed to do and I did it all night long.
If I made the proper pitch to the pitcher, we'd be 0-0 right now. I felt we were going to get some runs, and no matter what happens I didn't think one run was going to beat me. Unfortunately it did.
I definitely felt better than I felt the last couple of starts, mechanically, ... I felt like I was getting through the ball a lot better. My sinker was better, my cutter was better and my command was better.
We had that last year, we have that this year.
The sheer number of claims and inquiries can be overwhelming -- tremendous energy is required just to get your arms around the problem.
I've been in this situation, blowing a 2-0 lead.
They are a lot like our club. They take quality at-bats. They are patient and they have an idea about what they are doing and the pitcher they are facing. They've got speed. They've got some guys who can hit the ball out of the park. They have got quality guys from top to bottom, and you've definitely got to be on your game and make quality pitches to get these guys out.
There's not a lot of people that come from this area or this state that play in the big leagues, never mind win the Cy Young, ... To be part of that is unbelievable and to be part of this situation is unbelievable. I can't believe I won.
That's the way it works. You go out and try to do the best you can to give your team a chance to win. Unfortunately, we didn't win tonight. But tomorrow, we can come back and do a better job.
I was in command of it all night,