Carpenter adds chapter to his legend

— -- LOS ANGELES -- They still talk about it in St. Louis.

Shoot, they spent most of Thursday talking about in Los Angeles a year after it happened.

Matt Carpenter's 11-pitch at bat against Clayton Kershaw in Game 6 of last year's NLCS in St. Louis is still the stuff of legend around Busch Stadium. If the "Cardinal Way" could be defined by a single at-bat, Carpenter's seemingly never-ending plate appearance last October would serve as the perfect example of never giving up, sticking to your principles and always trusting that what got you to where you are will eventually lead you to where you want to go.

The tale of the at-bat and its significance grew as the game went on. Scoreless in the bottom of the third, Carpenter's nearly six-minute plate appearance eventually resulted in a double into the right field corner, which opened the floodgates for a four-run third inning and ended the Dodgers' season.

On Friday, Carpenter added another chapter to his legend with an eight-pitch at-bat, which resulted in a go-ahead, three-run double in the seventh inning against Kershaw.

"I imagine this one might be talked about for a while now, too," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. "Watching him foul off a bunch of tough pitches against a very good pitcher, it's really kind of what we have seen all season. The guy has such a great knowledge of the strike zone, fights off the tough pitches, and then gets something that he can do something with. He's a guy that sets the tone for our offense. He had a huge night for us."

The Dodgers were up 6-1 in the sixth inning with no outs and no one on when Carpenter started the Cardinals' comeback with a solo shot to right field to make it a 6-2 game. One inning later with two outs and the bases loaded, Carpenter made Kershaw pay with a patient at-bat that gave St. Louis the lead and chased off the best pitcher in baseball in the process.

"You know, there was a moment during that at-bat where I kind of was feeling the same emotions I was having last year," Carpenter said. "It was a very similar thing; a very similar at-bat. Honestly, in that moment I was trying to really just lock in on what I was trying to accomplish and that was just being competitive and really having a tough AB and an inning where we had a lot of action, I was just trying to keep the line moving. I was able to get a pitch that I could handle and something I could put the barrel on and hit it in the gap and [it] ended up being a big play for us."

Carpenter's home run in the sixth inning staggered Kershaw, who was pitching a gem up until that point, while his eight-pitch at-bat and three-run double knocked him out. It was an incredible turn of events, considering Kershaw at one point in the game retired 16 in a row and struck out 10. Kershaw, however, would end the game becoming the first starter to allow at least seven earned runs in consecutive postseason games in MLB history. In fact, after allowing eight earned runs in 37 innings pitched in September, he allowed eight in less than seven innings on Friday. It was the first time Kershaw had ever lost when getting at least six runs of support.

"I have the utmost respect for Clayton and what kind of pitcher he is," Carpenter said. "Honestly, it makes it more fun when you're playing against somebody that is known as being the best pitcher in the game. I just enjoy competing in those moments. He's a competitive guy, I would like to feel that I'm a competitive guy and when I get in those at-bats, versus him, I just try to fight. He's coming right after me, seems like every time I face him I'm down 0-2 and I got to fight my way back. I don't know what the reason is for it, but just battling."

It would be easy at this point to think Carpenter enjoys facing Kershaw or relishes the chance to step into the batter's box against him with the game tied or his team down and be the hero. That's not exactly the case. Carpenter simply smiles and shrugs his shoulders when asked about his past two postseason games against Kershaw and his two gritty at-bats that will be talked about in St. Louis for the foreseeable future.

"He's a real tough guy to face," Carpenter said. "I can't tell you why I've been able to have some success against him, because it's not easy. I don't enjoy facing him. It's not a real comfortable at-bat, but you just got to try to battle and compete and it's the postseason, crazy things happen and you just got to control your emotions in those moments and just compete out there."

Matheny isn't quick to overreact to a single at-bat or a single game or heap too much praise on a single player or a single moment. He isn't even a fan of the "Cardinal Way" slogan and has all but eliminated it from his lexicon. But he couldn't hide his feelings about Carpenter and his seventh inning at-bat. It wasn't only the difference in the game, but a microcosm of the Cardinals team and the season they've had.

"What an at-bat. I love to see that stuff," Matheny said. "I mean, those are the things you dream about when you're a kid. You're up there, facing the best in the game and to watch Matt on the big stage stand in there and put his nose in and fight, man, it's just, I keep saying that I'm proud of this club, because this is what I see. I see guys that just keep doing this and they fight all the way to the end. We can talk about scoring one more than the other team, I didn't necessarily think it was going to be 10-9, but that is truly what our club's been all season."