Matt Carpenter had a career-high four doubles -- two in the first inning -- and the St. Louis Cardinals routed the Colorado Rockies 12-3 on Sunday in Denver.

Tyler O'Neill homered, and Austin Gomber went six solid innings as St. Louis continued its strong play on the road. The Cardinals have won 10 of their past 11 away from home, and they maintained a half-game lead on the Milwaukee Brewers for the top spot in the National League wild-card standings.

Carpenter's four doubles tied the franchise record set by Joe "Ducky" Medwick on Aug. 4, 1937, against the Boston Bees. St. Louis finished with 16 hits.

Tyler Anderson lasted just two-thirds of an inning for Colorado, which fell one game behind the first-place Arizona Diamondbacks in the NL West and a game behind the Brewers in the wild-card chase.

Carpenter was a reason Anderson couldn't get out of the first inning. He led off the game with a double and scored on O'Neill's two-out home run. He doubled again in the first to drive in the last run in the Cardinals' six-run rally.

Gomber helped his own cause in the inning with an infield single that took one big hop, allowing him to get down the line and drive in two runs to make it 5-0.

Anderson (6-7) allowed six runs on seven hits and a walk, and all of the runs were scored with two outs. Chad Bettis got the last out of the inning and wound up yielding four runs, all unearned, in 3 1/3 innings.

The Rockies got a run back in the second but St. Louis put the game away with a four-run third inning that was aided by two Colorado errors. Matt Holliday misplayed Jedd Gyorko's single to left, and he advanced to second. Bader reached on a throwing error to put runners at the corner. A groundout and consecutive RBI hits by Carpenter, Yadier Molina and Jose Martinez made it 10-1.

Colorado scored again in the third, but Gomber faced the minimum in his last 3 2/3 innings. Gomber (4-0) gave up two runs -- one earned -- on five hits and a walk while striking out six.

Gyorko had three hits, and Molina, Martinez and O'Neill had two apiece. DJ LeMahieu had two of Colorado's seven hits.

--Field Level Media