Carpenter sharp in Cards' 4-1 win

ST. LOUIS -- Chris Carpenter has beaten the Cincinnati Reds eight straight times.

This time, they helped.

Carpenter allowed four hits in eight innings and benefited from the Reds' fielding and base running woes as the St. Louis Cardinals pulled into a first-place tie with Cincinnati in the NL Central with a 4-1 victory Wednesday night.

"They're a good team, but I feel like we're better," Reds second baseman Brandon Phillips said. "This time we just beat ourselves instead of them beating us."

Matt Holliday homered and Skip Schumaker, Ryan Ludwick and Brendan Ryan all had two hits and an RBI to back Carpenter, who silenced the NL's top offense to help St. Louis take two of three. Holliday hit his sixth homer, and only second at home, leading off the seventh against Logan Ondrusek for a 4-1 lead.

"Big game," Carpenter said. "Big situation against a team that's playing real well."

Scott Rolen had an RBI single for the Reds, following a two-homer game. But he made a key mistake on the basepaths when he was struck by Jay Bruce's grounder, a ball that first baseman Albert Pujols had no chance at, with runners on first and third for the second out of the seventh.

"Obviously, it was a big one," Carpenter said. "It was fortunate for us, but some things happen in the game like that."

Reds manager Dusty Baker bemoaned Rolen's bad luck.

"He's such an excellent base runner, and that's not going to happen very often," Baker said. "Follow the bouncing ball and tonight it bounced up and hit Scotty."

Carpenter (7-1) got another big out himself in the seventh, striking out Jonny Gomes for the second out. Gomes had entered the game with an NL-leading .459 average with runners in scoring position.

Gomes was shaky in the field, charging a ball in left field that sailed over his head for a gift RBI triple by Ryan in the fourth for the Cardinals' first run.

Carpenter has beaten Cincinnati three times this year and has a 1.09 ERA during the eight-game winning streak that dates to Aug. 15, 2006. He improved to 15-1 against the NL Central the last two years, retiring 13 straight in one stretch with four strikeouts and no walks.

"Whenever he's retired or pitches in the American League, then you can talk about his struggles or his success against a club," Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said.