Carpenter’s big day bodes well for Cardinals

ST. LOUIS– Matt Carpenter has now spent 23 days off the disabled list since returning from a strained oblique injury that sidelined him for most of July.

While he hasn’t returned to his pre-injury form, Sunday’s 7-4 loss to the A’s offered the first glimpse that he might be getting close. Carpenter knocked two doubles and hit a solo home run for his first three-hit game since July 4, two days before he suffered his injury.

“Any time you take time off, it’s hard to get back into the swing of things,” said Carpenter, who also scored three runs. “Trying to have good at-bats and hitting the ball hard, that’s kind of the recipe for that. So that’s what I try to do, and today was a good start with …

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