Carpenter, Miles lead Cards to first victory

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- Chris Carpenter pitched three shutout innings, Aaron Miles had five hits and the St. Louis Cardinals scored four times in the ninth to beat the New York Mets 11-8 Friday night.

Scott Spiezio homered, tripled and drove in five runs for the Cardinals. He finished 3-for-4.

Carpenter struck out four and gave up two hits. Last year's NL Cy Young Award winner yielded a leadoff single in the third before fanning Tike Redman, Kaz Matsui and David Wright.

"I located my fastball good, and my breaking ball was good," said Carpenter, who went 21-5 with a 2.83 ERA last season. "I made some quality pitches and kept the ball down. The fun thing about early on is getting the feel back and competing."

Japanese pitcher Yusaku Iriki was impressive in his first start for the Mets. The 33-year-old right-hander threw two scoreless innings, giving up one hit and striking out two.

Julio Franco, New York's 47-year-old backup first baseman, left in the sixth inning after getting hit in the left arm by a pitch from Blaine Neal.

Six batters in all were hit by pitches.

Noteworthy

• Mets ace Pedro Martinez said his big toe is still bothering him and he isn't ready to pitch in a spring training game yet. "I trust Pedro to get his work in. He knows what he needs to do," manager Willie Randolph said.