Relatively little has played out as expected for the Cardinals this season, so it should not be overly surprising to see that the club’s top two home-run hitters bat first and second in their lineup. Baseball has changed, hasn’t it?
Matt Carpenter, the club’s new leadoff man this season, has 11 homers. Dexter Fowler, the former leadoff man who hits second now, has nine, including a three-run shot in the fifth inning Sunday that put the Cardinals ahead en route to a 6-5 win over the Philadelphia Phillies, who scored twice in the ninth before falling short as a sellout house of 47,525 at Busch Stadium held its collective breath.