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Cardinals second baseman Matt Carpenter has been a magnet for line drives on Wednesday.
In the second inning, Carpenter snared a Pedro Alvarez rocket and threw to first to complete the double play. Six innings later, he did it again, though this time, Starling Marte was the victim:
At first glance, it looked as if first base umpire Paul Nauert might have made the wrong call. However, a closer look shows that the ball entered Matt Adams' glove before the tip of Jordy Mercer's foot touched the bag:
Mercer reached base on the first hit by a pinch-hitter for either team in the series, but just as was the case earlier, the Pirates' rally was killed before it even started. The following inning, Adams crushed a two-run homer to extend the Cardinals' lead to 5-1.
It appears St. Louis will be playing in its third consecutive NLCS.
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