Chris Carpenter made it three straight dominating outings in a row on Monday, holding the Reds to just six singles in eight scoreless innings of work in a 1-0 Cardinals victory. Carpenter was locked in an epic duel with Cincinnati's Johnny Cueto all afternoon, with the difference being an infield hit from St. Louis' Mark Hamilton in the eighth inning. Carpenter was one pitch away from throwing 120 pitches for the fourth consecutive start. Now 4-7 on the year, the Cardinals ace has lowered his ERA from 4.47 on June 17 to 3.74 by allowing just two runs in his past 25 innings of work. After it looked like he was in decline earlier this season, he has emphatically shown that is not the case.