Tonight the 102nd World Series re-commences with clear skies and cool temperatures in Saint Louis after the Cardinals and Detroit Tigers split the first pair of games 1-1. The underdog Cardinals have to be feeling good about their chances after earning a split in the series and returning to the home diamond for game three with 2005 Cy Young Award winner, Chris Carpenter taking the mound against Tigers starter Nate Robertson.
Once again, Robertson (1-1, 5.91 ERA postseason; 13-13 regular season) opens up for the Tigers on the road, the same scene he faced while starting Game 1 for the Tigers in the previous two rounds. He worked well to get out of trouble in Game 1 of ALCS while allowing six hits and three walks over five scoreless innings against the A's. He allowed two runs over 21 1/3 innings against National League teams this year during inter-league Play. As a hitter, he had an RBI single this year for his only base hit in 14 career at-bats.
Carpenter (2-1, 3.70 ERA postseason; 15-8, 3.09 regular season) throws four "plus" pitches for strikes, making him a handful for even the most potent lineups. Carpenter has made seven playoff starts in his career, and St. Louis has won six of those games. However, he was injured during the club's 2004 run, so this will be his first career World Series appearance.
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The Tigers are a little apprehensive about what they can expect from Robertson, who will be pitching competitively for the first time in two weeks, since going five innings in the 5-1 win over Oakland on Oct. 10 in Game 1 of the ALCS.
"We could get a fastball with a little bit more velocity than normal, but maybe not as good control," Tigers manager Jim Leyland theorized. "Or we could run into a situation like we did with Justin Verlander, whose fastball was not there, which really shocked me."
Carpenter, who made both of his NLCS starts in Shea Stadium, finally gets to start at home for the first time since Oct. 8, when he allowed two runs in seven innings of the Cards' Division Series clincher over San Diego.
Location" is significant for the reigning Cy Young Award winner. He had a regular season ERA of 1.81 in Busch Stadium, compared to 4.70 on the road.
Carpenter shrugs off that disparity as a fluke, pointing out how his road ERA was inflated by a couple of rough inter-league outings. True, and the Tigers were responsible for one of them, knocking him around for seven runs in seven innings on June 23.
The chance to finally leave his footprint in the World Series stokes Carpenter, who sat out the Cards' 2004 dance with Boston.
