13 Matt Carpenter 1B

Carpenter went 1-for-3 with a key RBI as the Cardinals kept their playoff hopes alive in a 2-1 victory over the Cubs on Saturday.

Carpenter scored in the fourth inning and pushed the Cardinals in front with a sixth-inning single off Cole Hamels. The 32-year-old has been struggling in September with a .169 average and just one home run. Nevertheless, Carpenter holds a .258/.376/.524 line on the season and has hit a career-high 36 home runs.

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

Carpenter put a bow on the scoring for the Cardinals with an impressive 425-foot shot right in the eighth, surprisingly his first homer of September. Carpenter has reached safely in six straight games, but he's slumped badly at the plate during the month to the tune of a .178/.315/.247 line across 89 plate appearances. While a .255 BABIP during that stretch could be partly to blame, a bigger culprit is the eight-point-plus bump in strikeout rate (20.8 percent to 29.2 percent) that Carpenter has seen compared to August.

Carpenter is not in the lineup against the Dodgers on Saturday.

Carpenter will take a seat for the first time since Aug. 29, when he was battling a minor illness. Though Carpenter did go 0-for-4 with three strikeouts Friday, it's a little surprising manager Mike Shildt would keep him out of the starting nine during such a pivotal showdown with Los Angeles as both teams fight for postseason contention. That said, there hasn't been any word on a potential injury and with another left-hander in Rich Hill on the mound Saturday, it's entirely possible Shildt is just giving the 32-year-old a well-earned day off. Patrick Wisdom will man first base and bat sixth in the order in his absence.

Carpenter went 2-for-5 with two runs in a loss to the Dodgers on Thursday.

Carpenter continues to get on base at an elite clip, with Thursday's two-hit effort pushing his on-base percentage for September to .375. The veteran is slated to move back to first base on an everyday basis with the return of Jedd Gyorko (groin) from the disabled list and sports a .270/.386/.553 line on the season that's partly comprised of a career best in home runs (35).

Carpenter (illness) is back in Thursday's lineup at third base for the series finale against Pittsburgh.

Carpenter won't miss any additional time after leaving Wednesday's contest due to nausea in the fourth inning. Dating back to the start of the second half, Carpenter has hit .299/.417/.681 with 15 home runs and 28 RBI. With Jedd Gyorko (groin) on the DL, look for Carpenter to receive a few starts at the hot corner in order to get Matt Adams in the lineup.