Carpenter threw a six-hitter and Ronnie Belliard had four RBIs, helping the St. Louis Cardinals take advantage of a fill-in starter in a 7-0 victory over the Houston Astros on Monday night.
Juan Encarnacion had two RBIs for the Cardinals, who dominated in the first of seven meetings with the Astros over the final 20 games. St. Louis ended a three-game skid and leads the NL Central by five games over Cincinnati and six over the Astros, who beat them in the NLCS last year to go to the World Series.
Astros shortstop Adam Everett committed two errors, one of them contributing to five unearned runs in the fourth. He lost his grip and double-pumped while preparing to throw on a grounder by Aaron Miles, and Miles ended up beating the throw with one out and none on.