Garcia surrenders eight runs in 13-3 loss to Mets

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- The numbers indicated Jaime Garcia had a difficult outing against the New York Mets on Sunday.

Garcia actually felt pretty good about the whole thing.

The left-hander allowed eight runs and nine hits over four innings in the St. Louis Cardinals' 13-3 loss, but he induced 12 grounders.

"We pitched better than all those runs and all those hits," St. Louis manager Tony La Russa said. "[Garcia] made significant progress today. He made a lot better pitches."

Garcia worked two scoreless innings before running into trouble in the third, fourth and fifth.

"Today I feel like I was making good pitches," said Garcia, who was one of the majors' top rookies when he went 13-8 with a 2.70 ERA last season. "I actually felt better the last two innings. I'm a ground ball pitcher and today I got ground balls."

Scott Hairston homered twice and went 3 for 4 for the Mets, raising his spring average to .407. Hairston figures to get increased playing time in right field at the start of the season if Carlos Beltran is still unable to play due to his ongoing knee problems.

Noteworthy

* Mets ace Johan Santana, recovering from his Sept. 14 surgery to repair a torn anterior capsule in his left shoulder, said his rehab is on schedule. Santana is is not expected back before the All-Star break.

"We're right on the right track and where we're supposed to be," Santana said. "It's just a slow process and I'm just doing it with caution."