Ohlendorf	Carpenter
0-3, 6.35	0-1, 1.76

In many respects, this is the game the Cards have been waiting for all offseason. How much are we going to get from Carp? In order for us to challenge for a playoff spot, we're going to need to get quite a lot out of him. I must admit, when the '08 season ended, I wasn't expecting anything from Carp this season. I thought that anything we got would be gravy. As the offseason and the spring have gone along, my expectations are higher. They're still not as high as many fans' are, but it wouldn't surprise me if Carp gave us 150 or so innings this year. I couldn't have said that 4 months ago. In fact, 4 months ago, I wasn't sure we'd get 150 innings from Carp the rest of his career.

I'm still not sure, of course, that we will get those 150 innings from him but, as I said, I'm a lot more confident today than I was 4 months ago. So, what does today mean? In the grand scheme of things, it's just one start. However, I think we all know it's much more than that. A successful outing today breeds hope that another may follow, and then another after that. It's just game 4 of 162 but, in many ways, our postseason hopes are on the line today. Let's hope it's a good day.