Halladay, Carpenter are close friends

PHILADELPHIA -- As if it isn't enough to have two Cy Young Award winners facing each other in Friday night's Game 5 at Citizens Bank Park, Roy Halladay and Chris Carpenter are good friends, too.

Drafted by the Blue Jays two years apart, both in the first round, the two grew up in the Toronto organization. They owned a boat together in spring training. Their families shared a condo near the team's complex in Dunedin, Fla.

"We'd fish every night," Carpenter said. "Sometimes get up in the morning and go fishing before anything had to start. Golf, I mean, we did all kinds of different things together."

After Carpenter had season-ending shoulder surgery in 2002, the Blue Jays refused to offer more than a minor-league deal, and that's when he and Halladay parted ways. While they have remained close, this is the first time the two will pitch against each other -- and only the third time former Cy Young winners have dueled in a deciding game. A trip to the NLCS hangs in the balance. "When we get to this point, it's down to business," Halladay said. "The friendships kind of go by the wayside, I think."

The two avoided a showdown in Game 1 because the Cardinals needed Carpenter to pitch them into the playoffs in the regular-season finale. That, in turn, prompted Tony La Russa to start Carpenter on three days' rest in Game 2 -- for the first time in his career -- with the hope of having him for a Game 5.

The plan almost backfired. Carpenter lasted only three innings in Game 2, allowing five hits and four runs, but the Cardinals rallied against Cliff Lee for a 5-4 victory. "He was not as sharp, and that may have been the reason," La Russa said. "His delivery was not good early. We're feeling like his delivery is going to start good tomorrow and he'll be the Chris Carpenter we know he is."

In Game 1, Halladay was every bit his Cy Young self -- after the first inning, when the Cardinals jumped him for a 3-0 lead on Lance Berkman's three-run homer. Halladay allowed a leadoff single to Skip Schumaker in the second inning and retired the next 21 batters, joining Don Larsen as the only pitchers to have done that in a postseason game. Even when Halladay pitched a no-hitter against the Reds in the NLDS last year, he retired 14 straight, walked a batter and retired 13 straight.

The expectations for this Game 5 cannot be overstated -- even among those who typically do their best to minimize the hype factor. Last Saturday, before Game 2, La Russa already was looking ahead to a potential Halladay-Carpenter showdown, describing it as a "classic" and "dream matchup."

"It's going to be as good as it gets," he said. "Just Halladay is every bit as good as his record and his awards and all that, but Carp is in that same category."

Halladay probably gets the edge, based on his Game 1 dominance. But the only thing La Russa would predict is that both will "compete like maniacs."

And when it's all over? Could they see themselves sitting on a boat in the offseason, with one chatting about the game that killed the other's title dreams?

"We'll be able to talk about it, I'm sure," said Carpenter, who unlike Halladay owns a World Series ring. "Even though we're competitive and wanting to win, I mean, we're still friends and it's not going to end anything. It's not that bad."