13 Matt Carpenter 3B

Carpenter is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Brewers, Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat reports.

Carpenter's absence from the lineup in a must-win game for the Cardinals illustrates just how far his stock has fallen since he slugged a career-high 36 home runs two seasons ago. His OPS for the abbreviated 2020 campaign sits at .639, 258 points below his mark from 2018. Tommy Edman will draw the start at third base Sunday over Carpenter, who could be relegated to a bench role should St. Louis punch its ticket to the postseason.

Carpenter went 2-for-3 with an infield single and an RBI double during a win over the Brewers in the second game of a doubleheader Friday.

The 34-year-old snapped a brief 0-for-7 funk with his productive night, although he still remains well short of the Mendoza Line with just a .188 average on the campaign. Carpenter has shown occasional glimpses of his trademark power with 10 extra-base hits (six doubles, four home runs) across 166 plate appearances, but the veteran remains held down by a career-worst 28.9 percent strikeout rate.

Carpenter will be on the bench for the first of Friday's two games against the Brewers, Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat reports.

Carpenter hits the bench with lefty Brent Suter on the mound for Milwaukee. He'll likely return to the lineup for the nightcap against righty Josh Lindblom. Tommy Edman starts at third base in his absence.

Carpenter isn't in Wednesday's lineup against the Royals.

Carpenter has reached base in each of the past three contests, but he's largely struggled late in the season. Tommy Edman will start at third base Wednesday.

Carpenter went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in a loss to the Royals on Monday.

The veteran squared up on a fourth-inning Carlos Hernandez offering and sent it 439 feet into center field. The round tripper accounted for the Cardinals' only run of the night and was Carpenter's first since Sept. 12. Despite Monday's success, it's been another difficult season at the plate for Carpenter, who's still in the midst of a 2-for-26 slump that covers his last nine games and has sunk his season average back down to .188.

Carpenter is not in the lineup Thursday against the Pirates, Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat reports.

Carpenter will receive a breather after going hitless in his last 13 at-bats. Tommy Edman will start at third base while Rangel Ravelo works in right field Thursday.

Carpenter will start at third base and bat seventh Tuesday against the Brewers, Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat reports.

The 34-year-old was originally absent from Tuesday's lineup against southpaw Brett Anderson, but he'll join the starting nine in place of Kolten Wong (undisclosed). Carpenter is 9-for-34 with an .890 OPS through 14 games in September.

Carpenter is not in the lineup for Tuesday's game against the Brewers.

Carpenter had gone 6-for-12 at the plate over a four-game stretch before going hitless in both halves of Monday's doubleheader. Tommy Edman moves in to third base in his absence, with Rangel Ravelo starting in right field.

Carpenter went 2-for-4 with an RBI single, a double and two runs in a loss to the Reds on Sunday.

Carpenter was the only Cardinal to churn out multiple hits in the five-run loss, with the veteran extending a hot streak at the plate that has seen him produce a trio of two-hit efforts in the last four contests. It's a highly welcome sight for Carpenter's long-suffering fantasy managers, who just saw him finally get his average over the Mendoza Line for the first time since Aug. 27 on Saturday. Carpenter has also shown a penchant for clutch hitting in particular of late, as he now has six RBI over the last six games.

Carpenter went 2-for-4 with a solo home run in Saturday's 7-1 win over the Reds.

Carpenter gave the Cardinals some breathing room in the sixth inning with a leadoff solo shot. The veteran infielder has three homers, 20 RBI and 17 runs scored in 35 games this season and is slashing .204/.366/.337 across 123 plate appearances.

Carpenter went 2-for-2 with an RBI single and a run-scoring double during a loss to the Tigers in the second game of a doubleheader Thursday.

After sitting out Game 1 of the twin bill, Carpenter was the only other source of runs outside of Tommy Edman in Game 2. The veteran was making his first start since Monday, but he's made relatively good use of his opportunities thus far in September. Carpenter has managed to generate five RBI on just five hits during the month, and thanks in part to the five walks he's also drawn, he boasts a .423 on-base percentage across 26 plate appearances over that span.

Carpenter is not in the lineup for Game 1 of Thursday's doubleheader against the Tigers.

He is really scuffling at the plate, batting .111 with one extra-base hit over his last 36 at-bats. Thankfully, Carpenter has at least walked 11 times over that stretch. Tommy Edman will start at the hot corner while Lane Thomas gets a start in the outfield.

Carpenter is not in the lineup for the first game of Tuesday's doubleheader against the Twins, Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat reports.

Carpenter has just three hits in his last 12 games, though the veteran was never all that likely to start twice in one day. Tommy Edman will be the third baseman in his absence.

Carpenter will start at third base and will bat seventh Monday against the Cubs, Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat reports.

Carpenter was on the bench for the last two games, likely just as a means of hitting the reset button after he slashed .116/.367/.209 over his previous 15 games. While the 34-year-old still boasts a patient eye at the plate (13.4 percent walk rate since 2019), his power production and strikeout rate have been trending in undesirable directions over the past two seasons. He's struck out in 26.8 percent of his plate appearances and has posted a .156 ISO during that two-season stretch, both well off his career marks of 19.9 percent and .191, respectively.

Carpenter went 1-for-3 with a solo home run in Friday's 4-1 loss to the Cubs.

Carpenter was the only Cardinal to manage a hit off Cubs starter Yu Darvish, and that hit left the yard in the sixth inning. It's the second homer of the year for Carpenter, to go with 14 RBI and 14 runs scored across 27 games. He's slashing .181/.340/.289 through 103 plate appearances.

Carpenter will bat sixth and start at third base Wednesday against the Royals, Anne Rogers of MLB.com reports.

Carpenter was originally set to be on the bench, but he'll join the starting nine with Dexter Fowler sitting out the game in protest of the recent police shooting of Jacob Blake.

Carpenter is not starting Wednesday against the Royals.

Carpenter has started 13 consecutive games for the Cardinals, going 9-for-41 with one home run, 10 RBI and a 7:15 BB:K during that span. Brad Miller is serving as the DH and hitting cleanup in place of Carpenter on Wednesday.

Carpenter went 2-for-7 with a grand slam during Wednesday's doubleheader against the Cubs.

The 34-year-old started the twin bill off strong with the 410-foot grand slam during the first inning of the matinee, and he was thrown out at second base during the nightcap while attempting to stretch a single into a double. Carpenter has a .238/.304/.357 slash line with one homer, 11 RBI and 13 strikeouts through 46 plate appearances this season.

Carpenter went 2-for-4 with an RBI single and a double in a loss to the Cubs on Tuesday.

Carpenter worked out of the cleanup spot and generated one of three multi-hit efforts on the night for the Cardinals. The veteran has hit safely in four of St. Louis' first six games since the team resumed play Saturday, and he's compiled five RBI over that span despite Tuesday's two-bagger being his only extra-base hit during that span.

Carpenter went 1-for-4 with a two-run single in a loss to the White Sox on Sunday.

Carpenter prevented the indignity of a shutout for the Cardinals by plating Tommy Edman and Paul Goldschmidt with a sixth-inning single for the only two Cardinals runs of the day. The veteran had a productive weekend against the White Sox despite going just 2-for-11 in three games, as he drove in four runs overall during that stretch.