Could Carpenter and Wainwright both win 20?

With Chris Carpenter's one-hit shutout of the Milwaukee Brewers, he improved his record to 16-3 (Cy Young anyone?) and improved his ERA to 2.16, which is best in the majors. The Cardinals n now boast the top two pitchers in the NL in wins (Wainwright with 17 and Carpenter with 16) while four other NL pitchers are tied for third with 14 wins. With 23 games left on the Cardinals regular season schedule, each pitcher should get 4 more starts. Carpenter would have to win 3 of those 4 and Wainwright would have to win all 4, but there is a possibility that both could end the season with 20 wins. It is not likely, but it is possible - which makes you wonder, when was the last time the Cardinals had two 20-game winning pitchers?

1985.

John Tudor went 21-8, Joaquin Andujar went 21-12, and oh by the way, Danny Cox was a not too shabby 18-9. What happened to the '85 Cardinals - you should know if you don't. They got robbed, I mean, beat by the Kansas City Royals in the I-70 World Series in 7 games. A fate that may be very similar for this year's Cardinals. (Beat, not robbed) Let's face it folks, as good as the one-two punch of Carpenter and Wainwright is, teams such as the Phillies, Yankees and Red Sox have similar one-two punches that are just as good, with lineups that are daunting.

Whenever and wherever the Cardinals end their season, one thing is for sure: Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright deserve a lot of the credit for how well this Redbird team is doing, and my guess is that one of them will receive some hardware for their efforts.

Go Cardinals.