Premise: ST. LOUIS — St. Louis first baseman Matt Carpenter was removed from Wednesday’s game in the top of the fourth inning with a stomach issue. Matt Adams took Carpenter’s place during a lull in the action with one out. Carpenter, who walked in his first two at-bats, has seven hits in his last 13 plate appearances. He leads the National League with 34 homers. Carpenter is hitting .274 with 74 RBI. Carpenter reached base safely in 35 successive games earlier in the season.
Hypothesis: Matt Adams is a better hitter than Matt Carpenter.