Felipe Lopez and Chris Carpenter powered the St. Louis Cardinals to a 4-3 comeback win over the New York Mets Friday night at Busch Stadium. Each man’s feat was notable both in the context of the game and in team history.
The infielder belted a grand slam in the seventh inning that immediately transformed his club from a possible 1-0 loser into a 4-1 leader. It was Lopez’ fifth bases-loaded home run in his ten big league seasons and represented only the 12th Cardinal come-from-behind slam in the late innings in at least the last 56 years.
Cardinals grand slams after 6th inning- when trailing to put Cards ahead (1954-present)
| Date | Hitter | Opponent | Opposing pitcher | Score | Inn. |
| 4/16/2010 | Felipe Lopez | NYM | Raul Valdes | down 0-1 | b 7 |
| 7/3/2009 | Albert Pujols | @CIN | David Weathers | down 0-3 | t 8 |
| 8/7/2005 | David Eckstein | ATL | Chris Reitsma | down 1-3 | b 9 |
| 4/11/2000 | Thomas Howard | @HOU | Chris Holt | down 3-6 | t 7 |
| 7/28/1998 | Ray Lankford | MIL | Mike Myers | down 5-8 | b 8 |
| 8/26/1995 | Danny Sheaffer | @COL | Bruce Ruffin | down 1-3 | t 9 |
| 8/15/1992 | Andres Galarraga | @MON | John Wetteland | down 2-4 | t 8 |
| 5/1/1979 | Roger Freed | HOU | Joe Sambito | down 3-6 | b11 |
| 9/3/1977 | Keith Hernandez | @SFG | Gary Lavelle | down 1-4 | t 8 |
| 8/11/1970 | Carl Taylor | SDP | Ron Herbel | down 7-10 | b 9 |
| 9/9/1962 | Carl Sawatski | @CIN | Jim Brosnan | down 1-3 | t 9 |
| 5/21/1954 | Stan Musial | CIN | Frank Smith | down 2-5 | b 7 |
The only run Carpenter, the team’s long-time ace, yielded in seven innings on Friday was unearned and he struck out 10 Mets. That marked the 13th time in his illustrious career he had fanned 10 or more hitters in a game.
Further, Carp has accumulated the club’s last six outings of at least seven innings pitched when allowing four or fewer hits, no earned runs and striking out ten or more opposing batters. The full list of 36 such performances from 1952 to present follows. Note the only name that appears more often than Carpenter is Hall of Famer Bob Gibson.
Cardinals pitchers – at least 7 IP, 4 or fewer hits, 0 earned runs, 10 or more strikeouts, game (1952-present)
| Pitcher | Date | Opp | Final | Result | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| Chris Carpenter | 4/16/2010 | NYM | W 4-3 | GS-7 ,W | 7 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 10 |
| Chris Carpenter | 9/7/2009 | MIL | W 3-0 | SHO9 ,W | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 10 |
| Chris Carpenter | 5/25/2009 | MIL | L 0-1 | GS-8 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| Chris Carpenter | 6/13/2006 | PIT | W 2-1 | GS-7 ,W | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 13 |
| Chris Carpenter | 6/25/2005 | PIT | W 8-0 | SHO9 ,W | 9 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 |
| Chris Carpenter | 6/14/2005 | TOR | W 7-0 | SHO9 ,W | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 |
| Matt Morris | 9/3/2004 | LAD | W 3-0 | SHO9 ,W | 9 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 |
| Matt Morris | 4/5/2003 | HOU | L 1-2 | GS-8 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 10 |
| Darryl Kile | 9/26/2001 | HOU | W 5-1 | GS-7 ,W | 7 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 10 |
| Darren Oliver | 8/3/1999 | SDP | W 6-0 | SHO9 ,W | 9 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 11 |
| Todd Stottlemyre | 5/11/1998 | MIL | W 7-0 | GS-8 ,W | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 |
| Alan Benes | 5/16/1997 | ATL | L 0-1 | GS-9 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 11 |
| Todd Stottlemyre | 5/15/1996 | FLA | W 6-0 | SHO9 ,W | 9 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 13 |
| Rheal Cormier | 1992-09-27 (1) | PHI | W 8-1 | CG 9 ,W | 9 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| Jose DeLeon | 8/8/1990 | CHC | L 3-4 | GS-8 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 |
| Joe Magrane | 6/22/1990 | CHC | W 7-0 | SHO9 ,W | 9 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 11 |
| Jose DeLeon | 6/9/1989 | CHC | W 1-0 | GS-8 ,W | 8 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 10 |
| Jose DeLeon | 9/6/1988 | MON | W 1-0 | SHO9 ,W | 9 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 12 |
| Bob Gibson | 1974-06-24 (2) | PIT | W 4-0 | SHO9 ,W | 9 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 11 |
| Bob Gibson | 8/28/1971 | CIN | W 4-0 | SHO9 ,W | 9 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 13 |
| Bob Gibson | 8/14/1971 | PIT | W 11-0 | SHO9 ,W | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 10 |
| Bob Gibson | 6/17/1970 | SDP | W 8-0 | SHO9 ,W | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 13 |
| Steve Carlton | 5/11/1970 | PHI | W 3-0 | SHO9 ,W | 9 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 |
| Bob Gibson | 8/28/1968 | PIT | W 8-0 | SHO9 ,W | 9 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 14 |
| Bob Gibson | 8/19/1968 | PHI | W 2-0 | SHO9 ,W | 9 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 11 |
| Bob Gibson | 6/15/1968 | CIN | W 2-0 | SHO9 ,W | 9 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 |
| Bob Gibson | 5/2/1967 | CIN | W 5-0 | SHO9 ,W | 9 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 12 |
| Bob Gibson | 5/20/1964 | CHC | W 1-0 | SHO9 ,W | 9 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| Ernie Broglio | 6/8/1963 | NYM | W 4-0 | SHO9 ,W | 9 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 10 |
| Bob Gibson | 8/8/1962 | PIT | W 2-0 | SHO9 ,W | 9 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 10 |
| Ray Sadecki | 1961-06-06 (2) | CHC | T 3-3 | CG 10 | 10 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 10 |
| Bob Gibson | 1961-05-21 (2) | CHC | W 3-0 | SHO9 ,W | 9 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 11 |
| Ernie Broglio | 7/15/1960 | CHC | W 6-0 | SHO9 ,W | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 14 |
| Vinegar Bend Mizell | 5/15/1959 | PHI | W 8-2 | CG 9 ,W | 9 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 10 |
| Harvey Haddix | 1954-06-13 (1) | PIT | W 5-0 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | |
| Vinegar Bend Mizell | 6/21/1952 | BSN | W 9-0 | SHO9 ,W | 9 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 11 |
As always, special thanks to Tom Orf for pulling the historical data shown above.
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