When it comes to bunting, you have your three classics. The sacrifice bunt, to advance a runner (or runners) up a base. The squeeze bunt, to try to score the runner from third. And there's bunting for a hit, which generally involves the batter squaring around late in the hopes of surprising the opposing defense and reaching first base. In the Cardinals' 5-0 win on Monday night, third baseman Matt Carpenter threw another bunt into the mix -- bunting ... for an extra-base hit!
With two outs in the fifth and the Marlins in a shift, Carpenter, who had already homered for the 10th time this season earlier in the game, was once again facing starter Elieser Hernandez. On a 1-1 count, Carpenter pushed a bunt toward third base, which was unoccupied. Hernandez ran after the ball to field it in the outfield grass with all of Miami's infielders on the right side of the infield, and as a result, Carpenter reached second base.
After hitting a 394-foot homer earlier in the game, Carpenter now had a double that traveled 48 feet. Carpenter then scored when the next batter, Paul DeJong, reached on an error to give St. Louis a 2-0 lead.
“Any time that there is not somebody over there with less than two strikes, I bunt every single time,” Carpenter said. “I will always go for that hit.”