"Whether he pitches well or he doesn't - and Saturday night's game against the Milwaukee Brewers actually falls somewhere near the former - Chris Carpenter, who had been the top won-lost percentage pitcher in Cardinals history for those with 100 games started, can't win anymore.

Carpenter entered this season with a .718 winning percentage as a Cardinal even though he lost four of his last starts in 2010 to fall to 84-33 for his St. Louis career. He and Adam Wainwright were considered co-aces and, in that regard, the Cardinals were the envy of nearly every other team but Philadelphia.

But two weeks removed from the halfway point of the season, the two Cardinals aces have won one game. And Wainwright, out for the season after elbow surgery in February, hasn't even made it to the mound.

Carpenter, on the other hand, has made 14 starts with but one win to show for it, a 6-4 verdict at Chicago on May 10. He is 1-6 after surrendering a 2-1 lead just given to him in the sixth inning Saturday by Lance Berkman's fourth homer in five games.

The Brewers racked Carpenter for four runs in the home sixth en route to a 5-3 victory.

Two of the runs came on a homer by Milwaukee's Rickie Weeks and another two on Corey Hart's two-out double after Carpenter's only two walks of the game.

The Cardinals, who had sat fairly comfortably atop the National League Central for a while, now lead the Brewers by just one-half game after Milwaukee won the first two games of this three-game series, Saturday's win coming in front of a sellout house of 41,930.

Carpenter is confident in his stuff and his desire to compete. He says he isn't concerned about his record but he clearly is baffled by the whole process.

"It's weird," he said. "To be honest, I feel no matter if (my pitching) is good, bad or OK, I just can't do anything right."