In Game 1 of the World Series, Chris Carpenter retired the Rangers in order in the top of the first, throwing 11 pitches.

In Game 5 of the World Series Chris Carpenter walked Josh Hamilton and needed 16 pitches to get through the bottom of the first.

Are there any conclusions to draw from this data? You might not think so, but there truly is. Just based on each sentence, you can tell that Carpenter was pitching at home in the first game, and he's on the road tonight. That makes a big difference.

Other than that ... no. Hamilton walked on five pitches, but the inning ended when Michael Young lined out to Albert Pujols.

But of the four hitters, two worked a three-ball count, and one hit the ball extremely hard. The only at-bat that wasn't impressive was that of Elvis Andrus, who grounded out to short on one pitch.

Maybe, if you squint, you can make too much about Carpenter not getting any swinging strikes in his 16 pitches, but it's almost certainly too early to start thinking about that sort of stuff.