"Chris Carpenter answered his roughest start as a Cardinal with one of his most effective. Carpenter followed last Tuesday's four-inning, eight-run performance with seven shutout innings in Sunday's 2-1 loss to the Dodgers.

The outing supported his claim that his loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks was more a product of being too strong than a physical problem.

"I was ahead in the count for the most part. I was locating and getting ahead in the count. I was able to dictate the pace," Carpenter said.

Sunday's start lowered Carpenter's ERA from 5.82 to 4.13. He has struck out 20 in 24 innings while walking only five."