By the numbers: Carpenter's historic day at the dish
The St. Louis Cardinals absolutely trounced the Chicago Cubs on Friday, and first baseman Matt Carpenter led the charge in the team's 18-5 dismantling of the division rival.
Carpenter went ballistic, going 5-for-5 with a trio of dingers and two doubles before getting removed after the sixth inning.
(Video courtesy: MLB.com)
To commemorate his historic performance, here are some wild stats to come out of the veteran's outlandish afternoon:
.302: Carpenter's ISO. Friday's game lifted the eight-year veteran's 2018 isolated power (calculated by subtracting a player's batting average from his slugging percentage) to fifth-best in baseball. To put that into context, Carpenter's .302 ISO is higher than Chris Davis' slugging percentage.
3: Position player pitchers used in the game. In delivering the otherworldly shellacking to Chicago, Carpenter and the rest of the Cardinals' offense forced the Cubs to become the first team to use three or more position players on the mound since the 1979 Milwaukee Brewers. Tommy La Stella, Victor Caratini, and Ian Happ were all forced to pitch in relief of Jon Lester.
4: Straight games with a home run. Not only did Carpenter hit a dinger in his fourth straight game, but he hit his sixth over that span. That's the most home runs during a four-game streak since Hee-Seop Choi hit seven over a four-game streak back in 2005.
5: Extra-base hits in a single game, the most in Cardinals history. Outfielder Mark Whiten had four extra-base hits - all home runs - back in the second game of a doubleheader in 1993. Carpenter tied the MLB single-game record for most extra-base hits with five, now held by 11 players including Cubs star Kris Bryant.
6: Innings played by Carpenter before getting lifted. The left-handed swinger became the first player to collect five extra-base hits in six frames.
7: RBI against the Cubs. This number seems kind of underwhelming -considering the Cardinals scored 18 runs and Carpenter went 5-for-5 with five extra-base hits - until you realize he's the team's leadoff hitter.
12: Point increase in Carpenter's wRC+ (Weighted Runs Created Plus), which leaped from 144 to 156 over the course of five plate appearances. That increase is almost unfathomable this late into the season, with this large of a sample size.
16: Total bases from the 32-year-old. Before Cardinals interim manager Mike Shildt rudely deprived baseball fans by lifting Carpenter from the game for Francisco Pena, the first baseman had a legit shot at tying or breaking the record for total bases in a game. At 16 total bases through six innings, a home run would've meant surpassing Shawn Green, who set the single-game record back in 2002 with 19.
21: Career home runs as the Cardinals' leadoff hitter. That ties Lou Brock's franchise record.