St. Louis Cardinals: Matt Carpenter’s record-breaking night at the expense of Corey Kluber

Matt Carpenter is returning to his previous All-Star form, and then some, for the St. Louis Cardinals — with a recording-breaking night in Arch City against Corey Kluber and the Cleveland Indians.

Welcome back, Matt Carpenter — the St. Louis Cardinals have missed you dearly. After a forgetful 2017 campaign filled with nagging injuries, that Matt Carpenter did not once make excuses for — and a dreadful start to 2018, the former All-Star is returning to precisely that — an All-Star, once again.

Since the middle of May, Matt Carpenter is hitting a stellar .349 raising his once lowly batting average of .140. to its current state of .259. That feat is impressive in itself, but how he rose above the .250 mark is one for the record books.

Trailing 2-0 against the red-hot Cleveland Indians and facing Cy Young winner Corey Kluber, Matt Carpenter set the tone for the evening — and possibly the rest of the season.

Down two strikes, Matt Carpenter launched a bomb to deep right-center field, that was nearly snagged by Lonnie Chisenhall.

Thankfully, the ball found its way over the wall and the St. Louis Cardinals were in business. With the help of Matt Carpenter, the Birds on the Bat knocked out Corey Kluber in the second inning — the shortest start of his remarkable MLB career.

The last time the St. Louis Cardinals faced Corey Kluber, he struck out 18 Redbirds. Yes, 18 of the 27 outs recorded were via the swing and miss (or looking) variety. That particular night, Matt Carpenter was 0-4, with two strikeouts of his own. However, the rematch told an entirely different tale for him and the Redbirds.

Matt Carpenter went 5-5 with two home runs, a double, and a triple shy of hitting for the cycle, leading the St. Louis Cardinals to an 11-2 victory over the AL Central-leading Cleveland Indians.

He also joined the shortlist of St. Louis Cardinals players (Stan Musial, Wally Moon) to score five runs in one ballgame, setting a record of his own in the process. He’s the only one to score five runs in a game, go 5-5, and hit two home runs in the same MLB game.

After exacting sweet revenge against Corey Kluber and the Tribe, Matt Carpenter was at a loss for words when he caught up with Rick Hummel and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch following his epic performance.

"“That leaves me kind of speechless.  There have been some really good players come through here and you would figure that somebody would put a night together better than that.”"

Next: Pujols is returning to St. Louis

For nearly two years, St. Louis Cardinals fans have been embracing their inner Pig Sooiee and bashing Matt Carpenter for his poor performance. Many of those Redbird rants wanted to see him traded away while receiving nothing in return.

It appears “Carp” has the last word, laugh — and then some for his haters.

The real Matt Carpenter has stood up and is leading a resurgent St. Louis Cardinals squad towards the top of the wild card standings and perhaps the NL Central. Welcome back, Carp!