JUPITER, Fla. -- Chris Carpenter's comeback remains solidly on track after four more scoreless innings. Boston ace Josh Beckett matched him pitch for pitch.
The Cardinals' oft-injured ace shrugged off a triple by Josh Reddick on his second pitch of the game then allowed just one more hit in his third spring start, and St. Louis beat Boston 4-2 on Thursday.
"It was another step forward," said Carpenter, who threw 46 pitches. "I definitely felt like I was locating better with my fastball and I felt like I was in a little better control of my body."
Beckett mirrored Carpenter's efficiency even without his best command, allowing two hits and throwing 50 pitches for the Red Sox in a matchup that attracted standing-room attendance of 8,306. It's the first sellout of the spring at Roger Dean Stadium.
"Today I didn't think I was that sharp," Beckett said. "But I got away with it because it wasn't down the middle and they hit balls at guys, and we played good defense."
Joe Mather's two-run home run with two outs in the ninth inning off Marcus McBeth was the game-winner. Mather has six RBI the last two games and is batting .313 with an NL-leading 13 RBI.
"Growing up, that's what you sit in your backyard doing," Mather said. "It was pretty cool. Everyone stayed around, so it was a good cheer."
Both of the hits against Beckett were by former Red Sox farmhand Joe Thurston. Thurston was 0-for-8 with the Red Sox in four games last April, spending the majority of the season at Triple-A Pawtucket, and signed a minor league free-agent deal with the Cardinals in the offseason to compete for a utility spot.
"I knew he would be coming at me with the fastball," said Thurston, who was 3-for-4 overall. "When I saw I was in the game I was very excited I was playing against those guys. I wanted to get them."
Manager Terry Francona was pleased overall with Beckett's outing, noting he threw first-pitch strikes to 13 of 15 batters and got away with some high pitches.
"I thought he elevated some fastballs, not by design," Francona said. "I thought it was a good sign because he didn't get hit that hard."
The 33-year-old Carpenter doubled the inning total from each of his first two spring starts. He hasn't allowed a run in eight innings, giving up only four hits.
"Results-wise, it's obviously been pretty good," Carpenter said. "I'm getting back into the game situations and trying to execute pitches, so it's gone the way I would have hoped so far."
Carpenter has missed virtually all the last two seasons, pitching only 15 1/3 innings last year coming off reconstructive elbow surgery. He underwent arthroscopic shoulder surgery in September and had another procedure in November to transpose a nerve in his elbow.
Notes
Red Sox prospect Jonathan Van Every sprained his right ankle trying to go from first to third on a single in the fifth inning and was taken out. ... David Ortiz and Jason Bay returned to camp Wednesday night from the World Baseball Classic, and Francona anticipated both would play Friday. ... Boston RHP Brad Penny, yet to start this spring due to a shoulder injury, is scheduled to throw two innings in a minor league intersquad game Friday. ... Cardinals OF Colby Rasmus, out three games with a minor hamstring injury, is set to return in the opener of a day-night, two-city, split-squad double-header on Friday. ... Albert Pujols got a day off but was scheduled to play the next four days.
