NLCS Game 1

Game 1 pitcher for the Cardinals, Chris Carpenter, is well known to the Houston Astros and Craig Biggio in particular. Carpenter has plunked Biggio twice (4/14/2004 and 9/3/2005), and appears to be the favorite to become the third pitcher to hit Craig Biggio with a pitch and win the Cy Young award in the same season (the others are Pedro Martinez and Greg Maddux). Carpenter is also one of two pitcher from the state of New Hampshire to hit Craig Biggio with a pitch.
Carpenter is 4-0 against the the Astros this season, but the Astros did pick up a win in a Carpenter start on September 28th. They got Carpenter for 6 runs in that last meeting, and hung the loss on Jason Isringhausen in the 9th inning on memorable run scored by Willy Taveras.

On October 4, 1969, Hall of Famer Orlando Cepeda got hit by a pitch in the first game of the first National League Championship Series. In the history of the National League Championship Series, 78 batters have been hit by a pitch. 19 of those have been hit in game 1, more than any other NLCS game. Of the 19 batters hit in the NLCS game 1, only 8 have been on the visiting team. Only Edgar Renteria has been hit twice in NLCS game 1, but he did it in separate years on two different teams (2002 with the Cardinals, and 1997 with the Marlins). That '97 NLCS game 1 was also the only NLCS game 1 in which more than one batter was hit.

NLCS plunks by game

Game	HBPs
1	19
2	9
3	13
4	9
5	12
6	9
7	7

(Prior to 1985, the League Championship round was a best of 5 series)