Cardinals' Matt Carpenter: Tied for NL lead in homers

Carpenter went 1-for-5 with a solo home run in a win over the Pirates on Sunday.

Carpenter temporarily had the National League homer lead all to himself after blasting his 29th round tripper in the fifth inning. Although the Rockies' Nolan Arenado eventually drew even with him later in the day, Carpenter's offensive exploits over the last two months-plus are nothing short of astounding at this point. The veteran infielder has hit 26 of his homers over the last 67 games, a stretch during which he sports an MLB-best .722 slugging percentage, Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com reports. Carpenter has now left the yard in three straight games and reached safely in 24 consecutive games overall, pushing his season line to a steadily ascending .282/.394/.593.