In the top of the second inning, C.J. Wilson walked the first two hitters he faced, and both of them scored. This is because that's how baseball is supposed to work. For a few minutes, it was a luck-free meritocracy. You get into the mess yourself, you pay for it.

In the fourth, though, Wilson pitched like he does when things are going well for him. Courtesy of MLB GameDay:

When he missed, he didn't miss by much, and when he caught the zone, he used his movement to catch the corners of it. That's the template. That's what makes Wilson good. What makes him less than great are the spurts of wonky command.  We've seen both versions tonight.

Other than a Mitch Moreland homer, Chris Carpenter has been free of any such problems. He's featured a nasty curve at times ...

... and he's thrown 55 pitches through four innings compared to 76 for Wilson. The Cards are holding a 2-1 lead into the fifth.