W00T

Chris Carpenter mastered the Detroit Tigers for eight innings in a 5-0 victory Tuesday night in Game 3 of the World Series, allowing three hits and no walks in his overdue debut in the World Series. The victory gave the Cardinals a two-games-to-one lead in the series.

Carpenter, who was injured when the Cardinals won the pennant two years ago, threw just 82 pitches in quieting the Tigers, who are batting .183 in the series. Three of the Tigers’ everyday players — Curtis Granderson, Plácido Polanco and Iván Rodríguez — are a combined 0 for 34.

This was the first time since 1970 that a ballpark played host to the World Series in its first season. With the old Busch Stadium a construction site beyond left field, the new one shimmered — and shivered — in Cardinals red.

The Budweiser Clydesdales clomped around the warning track before the game, to the tune of the beer company jingle, and one fan came dressed as Santa Claus in the 43-degree chill. Many fans waved white towels, the fad of this postseason, and held homemade signs.

The scoreboard operator eagerly found the signs, many tweaking the Tigers’ Kenny Rogers, widely suspected of using pine tar to gain an edge in his Game 2 victory. “Beat the Tar out of the Tigers,” one of the tamer signs read.

In the last World Series game at the old Busch, in 2004, the Boston Red Sox ended decades of torture by completing a four-game stampede of the Cardinals. Only six players on that St. Louis roster remain, a number that does not include Carpenter.

Carpenter was inactive for that World Series because of a nerve irritation in his upper arm. He had gone 15-5 that season and would have faced the team from his native New England. But he understood.

“It was disappointing, but it was a smart decision — the right decision, I believe,” Carpenter said on Monday. “They were looking out for my career, not just for one series or one game.”

The long-term benefit of a healthy Carpenter has been enormous for the Cardinals. He won the Cy Young Award last season and had 15 victories this season, one shy of the league lead.

Carpenter failed to close out the National League Championship Series last Wednesday, losing a well-pitched game to the Mets at Shea Stadium. But he was at his best on Tuesday.

The Tigers’ hitters typically do not run deep counts, and against a precise pitcher like Carpenter, their swings quickly turned into outs. In the fourth inning, against the 2-3-4 hitters, Carpenter needed only nine pitches (eight strikes) to retire the side.