Braves swing away at Cards' Suppan

JUPITER, Fla. -- The Braves scored three home runs off Cardinals' starter Jeff Suppan in a 5-1 win at Roger Dean Stadium on Monday, while Atlanta's John Thompson had no problem against the St. Louis hitters.

The Braves had home runs from Raul Mondesi, Rafael Furcal and Andruw Jones, who hit a two-run blast. Atlanta had dropped their last five after winning their first six.

Thompson, who was 14-8 with the Braves in 2004, has not allowed a run in nine innings over three spring outings. He pitched four innings allowing three hits on Monday, including two to Cards leadoff hitter Dave Eckstein.

The Cardinals had won seven of their last nine games while outscoring their opponents 56-32. But Monday Suppan went four innings and allowed five runs. "You never want to get hit around, but it is only my second outing," Suppan said.

"There's always things to work on in spring training, and I'm going to keep working on them. Right now, I'm really not looking at results."

St. Louis' Adam Wainwright, 23, pitched two scoreless innings after following Suppan to the mound.

He has not allowed a run in two outings over four innings. He was highly regarded at Cardinals camp last season, but suffered elbow problems in the minors last year.

With the Cards starting rotation pretty much set, many figure Wainwright doesn't have much of a chance to make the Cardinals roster.

Manager Tony La Russa isn't one of them.

"If he gives us the best chance to win if he is on our club, then he'll be on the club. What he has to do is keep pitching the way he did today," La Russa said.

Wainwright said he thinks it's possible he can make the roster. "For me to pitch my best, I have to believe I can make the team. If not, I'd just be going through the motions."

Chris Carpenter will be on the mound for the Cardinals Tuesday against the Orioles. The Braves' Horacio Ramirez will face the Dodgers.