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Carpenter squares off with Gallardo, as NLCS shifts to St. Louis

Oct 12, 2011 - 7:17 PM (Sports Network) - Tensions should be running high this evening when the National League Championship Series shifts to Busch Stadium for Game 3 between the St. Louis Cardinals and Milwaukee Brewers.

Chris Carpenter will be on the hill for the Cards tonight following his brilliant three-hit shutout in Game 5 of the NLDS against good friend Roy Halladay and the Philadelphia Phillies.

"Through that game, all I did was continue to tell myself to enjoy this," Carpenter said. "I might never be here again. Enjoy the moment, enjoy the what we're doing, enjoy all the hoopla about me and Doc, everything that led to us beating the Phillies."

Carpenter, of course, is no stranger to the Brewers, as he was involved in a benches-clearing incident with the outspoken Nyjer Morgan in September and called a phony before this series by Milwaukee righty Zack Greinke, who admitted that the team just doesn't like him.

"He doesn't know me, he's never been a teammate of mine, he can say what he wants," Carpenter said.

Carpenter beat the Brewers the last two times he faced them and is 6-2 with a 2.94 ERA in the postseason.

"Every year, and every round of the playoffs, there's distractions all around, all kinds of different things," said Carpenter, who was 11-9 with a 3.45 ERA in 34 regular season starts. "If you can't eliminate those on your day, you're going to have a difficult time. It can go from family stuff, clubhouse stuff, opponents, friendships, whatever it is. It's hard enough as it is to go out and compete against these guys with no distractions."

The Brewers will go with their ace tonight as well in Yovani Gallardo, who had two terrific NLDS starts. After holding the Diamondbacks to a run and four hits over eight innings in Game 1, Gallardo limited Arizona to a run and six hits in six innings of Milwaukee's thrilling Game 5 win.

"Yo has been our best guy, he loves being in these situations," Brewers outfielder Corey Hart said. "It's our guy against their guy. Both are best guys."

This postseason has further validated Gallardo's terrific regular season, one that saw him lead the team in wins (17) and strikeouts (207) while working 207 1/3 innings, and pitching the team's only complete game. He was also a horse down the stretch for the Brewers, as he pitched to a 1.77 ERA and struck out 36 batters over 20 1/3 frames of his final three regular season starts.

"For a starting pitcher, it doesn't get better than this, obviously facing a great pitcher on the other side and a great team," Gallardo said. "I'm looking forward to it. It's going to be tough. I'm definitely going to have to bring my 'A' game."

St. Louis, though, has been a thorn in the side of Gallardo his entire career, as he is just 1-7 lifetime versus the Cards with a 5.66 ERA in 11 starts. The ERA is his

"I try to forget about those things," Gallardo said. "I mean, even if it goes the other way around, 7-1. But you can't think about it too much. It's definitely a different kind of game here in the postseason."

St. Louis evened this series at a game apiece on Monday, as Albert Pujols went 4-for-5 with five RBI and three runs scored to help the Cardinals crush the Brewers, 12-3.

Pujols had a homer and three doubles for St. Louis, which bounced back from a 9-6 loss on Sunday.

Nick Punto added two runs batted in for the Cardinals, who are back in this round for the 10th time in team history and the first time since 2006 when they won the World Series.

"Just another game," Pujols said. "I'm just glad I was able to help this ballclub to win. Go back home knowing there is a long series. Hopefully we can swing the bat the way we did, from the top of the lineup all the way to the bottom of the lineup the next couple of games and see where we're at."

St. Louis starter Edwin Jackson gave up two runs on seven hits over 4 1/3 innings. Lance Lynn (1-0) recorded the final two outs in the fifth to pick up the win.

Prince Fielder and Rickie Weeks homered for the NL Central-champion Brewers, while Shaun Marcum (0-2) allowed five runs on seven hits over four innings for Milwaukee, which is in a League Championship Series for the first time since 1982 when it beat the Angels in the ALCS before falling to St. Louis in the World Series.

Of course the Cardinals are quite familiar with their NL Central inhabitant Brewers, who won the division by six games. Despite that the two teams split the 18 games played this season, but the Cardinals won six of the final seven matchups and won five of the nine games played in St. Louis.

Only twice since the addition of the wild card have two teams from the National League Central met in the NLCS. It last happened in 2005, when the Astros knocked the Cardinals out of the playoffs.