Cardinals, Braves give up after 10 scoreless innings

JUPITER, Fla. -- Two of the National League's best pitching staffs battled for 10 innings Monday as the St. Louis Cardinals and Atlanta Braves played to a scoreless tie.

Josh Pearce, trying to win a spot with the Cardinals, and Tom Glavine, one of the stars that helped earn Atlanta's 10 division titles since 1991, each pitched five innings.

Pearce allowed five hits and a walk. Glavine scattered four hits and a walk, striking out one.

"Give credit to the pitching," Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said. "The wind was blowing in. There were some hard-hit balls, but the pitching was good and the defense was good on both sides."

The Cardinals made three double plays, the Braves one, all in the infield.

Atlanta's biggest threat was in the seventh when B.J. Surhoff led off with a double that bounced over the center field fence. But Gene Stechschulte struck out Vinny Castillo and got Eddie Perez to pop up. Wes Helms singled Surhoff to third but George Lombard grounded out to end the inning.

St. Louis got only one runner to third base, but Albert Pujols grounded into a double play to end that threat in the first inning. The game drew 8,119 fans, the largest crowd of the spring at Roger Dean Stadium.

Atlanta manager Bobby Cox liked what he saw from Glavine, the winningest left-hander in baseball over the last 13 years with 213 victories.

"It's the time of year that the pitching is starting to come around, and with the wind blowing in, it was very good on both sides," Cox said. "Tommy was just as good the last time out," when he shut down Kansas City by scattering five hits over four innings.

"I'm making a nice progression," Glavine said. "I'm close to being where I need to be, about 75-80 percent, about where you want to be the third week of March."

Pearce can be sure his effort was noticed by his coaches.

"We liked Josh coming into spring training," Cardinals pitching coach Dave Duncan said. "He's developed as a pitcher where he is definitely one of the fellows who could help us this year if we need help. He throws strikes, mixes his pitches well and has great composure."

Notes: The Cardinals have their only day off of the month today, followed by their only overnight trip and then their first night game in five seasons at Roger Dean Stadium. The Cardinals travel to Fort Myers to play Minnesota Wednesday night and Boston Thursday afternoon.