ST. LOUIS -- The St. Louis Cardinals gave manager Mike Matheny a three-year contract extension through 2017 on Wednesday, rewarding him for deep post-season runs in his first two seasons in the job. The team also said that 2005 NL Cy Young Award winner Chris Carpenter is retiring after missing this season with a recurring nerve issue in his shoulder. Matheny led the Cardinals to the World Series this year, losing in six games to Boston. In 2012, his first season managing at any level, St. Louis fell one game shy of reaching the Fall Classic. The 43-year-old Matheny was a four-time Gold Glove catcher with St. Louis and had one year left on his deal. "We didnt want any distractions, we knew we wanted Mike to be a part of this organization for a long time," general manager John Mozeliak said Wednesday. "So we might as well deal with it and get it behind us. "Obviously, with the success hes had he deserves this contract," Mozeliak added. Chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. characterized Mathenys first two seasons as "pretty historic." Matheny called it an "amazing ride." Mathenys managed 30 post-season games the last two seasons and is among eight managers in major league history to lead a team to the post-season his first two full seasons. The Cardinals picked up Mathenys option for 2014 in February. "You look at how everythings kind of unfolded and you just never know," the manager added. "Opportunities come up and fortunately Ive been surrounded by some very, very good people." Mozeliak said the team hoped to "identify a future role" in the organization for the 38-year-old Carpenter. "When you think back to everything this organization has been through in regard to his ups and downs, he will still go down as one of the greatest weve ever had," Mozeliak said. Carpenter went 95-44 with a 3.07 ERA in nine seasons in St. Louis despite making only seven starts combined between 2007-08 and 2012. His began his career in 1997 with Toronto, signing with the Cardinals after the 2002 season. He missed all of 2003 with an injury and was 144-94 overall. "We think back to his career and what an amazing one it was," Mozeliak said. "He was part of so many highlights and I think he really created a culture of higher expectations." Carpenter won 21 games in 2005 and led the league in ERA in 2009, the same year he was named the NL comeback player of the year -- after having Tommy John surgery. Hes the franchise career leader with 10 postseason victories, the most memorable is his 1-0 win over the Phillies and Roy Halladay in Game 5 of the NL division series in 2011. "Chris will always be remembered as the leader of the pitching staff during one of the great eras of Cardinals baseball," DeWitt said. The Cardinals also purchased the contract of outfielders Oscar Taveras and Mike ONeill, and infielder Greg Garcia. St. Louis has 36 players on the 40-man roster. Taveras is the franchises top prospect and is coming off right ankle surgery after batting .306 in just 46 games at Triple-A Memphis. ONeill hit .320 in 98 games at Double-A Springfield and finished the year at Memphis where he batted .295, and the versatile Garcia batted .271 at Memphis and played second base, third base and shortstop. The Cardinals took left-hander John Gast, outfielder Jermaine Curtis and shortstop Ryan Jackson off the 40-man roster. Gast and Curtis were outrighted to Memphis and Jackson was claimed by the Houston Astros. Mozeliak called it a roster "clean up" prior to the winter Rule 5 draft. The team is seeking a replacement for Bengie Molina, an assistant hitting coach this year who last week was hired as the Texas Rangers first base coach and catching instructor. Chris Hogan Jersey .com) - Guess whos back, back again? Josh Gordons back, tell a friend. 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Of the dunk off the high pass from Booker, Wall said: "We try them in practice sometimes. Hell be thinking hes a point guard sometimes, so I just told him to throw it up and he put it on the money." Marcin Gortat added 18 points for the Wizards, who improved to 15-17, while Wall contributed 17 points, Trevor Booker 12 and Martell Webster 10. Gortat added 12 rebounds and also stopped Al Jefferson, holding Charlottes centre to just six points. "I always feel good playing against Al and its a huge challenge for me also," Gortat said. "Hes a very difficult player to guard and very smart. I remember all the battles back in the West where he played for Utah and I played for Phoenix and we always battled every year for at least four times. I kind of learned to play against him. I know how to play against him and I was really focused." Gerald Henderson scored a season-high 27 points to lead the Bobcats, but questioned his own defensive intensity -- and that of his teammates on both ends of the court -- in the lacklustre defeat for Charlotte, which fell to 15-21 overall and 8-11 at home. Kemba Walker added 19 points and Ramon Sessions was the only other Bobcat to score in double figures with 10. "Coming into the game, it was a game where we really thought we could get back on track," Henderson said. "We beat Sacramento (on the road) in our previous game, but we just didnt come up with the plays. We got down in the third quarter and couldnt come back. "We didnt play with a lot of intensity on either end tonight. We lost track of them in that third quarrter, and we didnt really play with a lot of force offensively, either.dddddddddddd. ... I feel like I could have played a lot better defence on Beal and some of their other perimeter players." The same couldnt be said for the Bobcats, who were coming off a 1-4 road trip. "The toughest game is the first game after a long road trip," Bobcats coach Steve Clifford said. "It comes down to will, mental toughness and how bad you want to win." The Wizards led 43-39 after a listless first half, during which both teams shot just under 43 per cent from the field. Henderson scored 11 of Charlottes first 13 points in the first six minutes of the game, but then proceeded to miss six of his last seven shots in the first half. He was the only player from either team to reach double figures in scoring in the opening half with 15. The Bobcats were particularly inept on offence in the opening half, missing half of their 12 free-throw attempts while failing to register any fast-break or second-chance points. Yet the game remained close, with the Bobcats pulling to within 47-45 on a 3-pointer by Chris Douglas-Roberts with 9:32 left in the third quarter, before the Wizards conjured up their 17-0 run. The Bobcats were down 19, 64-45, before they scored again on a pair of free throws by Anthony Tolliver. From there, the Bobcats furiously attempted to rally. But the closest they could come was to within 88-81 on a 3-point play by Tolliver with 2:14 remaining. Beal immediately answered with a jumper for the Wizards, who then went on to close the game with a 9-2 run. The Wizards held a 46-38 rebounding advantage and a 28-18 edge on points in the paint, led by Gortat. "He took the challenge and came out and played," Wall said of Gortat. "For some reason when we hit the road we find the way to play the best way we need to play and find a way to win these games." Notes: The Wizards have won five in a row against East teams on the road. ... Gortat had his 11th double-double of the season. ... Jefferson had his streak of double-figure games snapped at 22. He had scored a season-high 27 points on Saturday against Sacramento. Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys ' ' '