Since turning to his curveball in the third inning, Chris Carpenter has completely turned around his Game 7 outing. After throwing just one curve in his first 43 pitches, he threw six in his next 12. That gives him four pitches instead of three, and a sort of change-up that he simply didn't have in the first couple of inning, when he struggled.

Carpenter breezed through the top of the fourth, striking out Mike Napoli, getting David Murphy on a weak come-backer, and striking out Matt Harrison, his mound opponent.

So thanks to Allen Craig's third-inning home run, it's Cardinals 3, Rangers 2 heading to the bottom of the fourth.

Meanwhile, some observers were surprised when Harrison batted for himself, as C.J. Wilson has been getting loose in the Rangers' bullpen. Harrison would presumably have been removed if someone had reached base ahead of him, but nobody did so Ron Washington's sticking with him. You have to think the leash is exceptionally short now, though.