Marlins blank Cards, surge into division race

ST. LOUIS -- Brad Penny allowed four hits in seven sharp innings as the Florida Marlins beat Woody Williams and the Cardinals 4-0 Tuesday night.

Juan Encarnacion was 3-for-4, and Miguel Cabrera and Alex Gonzalez each drove in a run for the Marlins, who have won eight of 10. Florida is 12-5 since the All-Star break to climb into the thick of the NL wild-card race.

Albert Pujols extended his hitting streak to a career-best 19 games with a one-out double in the fourth for the Cardinals, their first hit. Edgar Renteria grounded into two double plays for St. Louis, which has been shut out in its last two home games.

Jim Edmonds returned to the Cardinals' lineup after missing nine games with a strained right shoulder and was 0-for-3 with a fielding error in center field that allowed a run to score.

Penny (10-8) tied his career high for wins, striking out five and walking three. His biggest scare came in the fourth when Tino Martinez walked following Pujols' double and Scott Rolen flied out to the wall in left.

Ugueth Urbina pitched two innings to finish the five-hitter, Florida's seventh shutout of the season. St. Louis has been blanked four times.

Penny fared a lot better in his third career start at Busch Stadium than in the first two, when he allowed 14 runs, nine earned, on 20 hits in 9 2/3 innings and went 0-1.

Williams (14-5) tied his season high with nine strikeouts, but hurt himself with a wild pitch that allowed a run to score in the fifth and put the Marlins ahead 4-0. In seven innings, he gave up seven hits and four runs, three earned.

The first four Marlins reached base in the fourth on singles by Mike Lowell and Encarnacion, a walk to Derrek Lee and Cabrera's run-scoring single. A second run scored on the hit when Edmonds charged the ball in shallow center and it deflected off the heel of his glove. Gonzalez followed with a sacrifice fly.

Ivan Rodriguez walked with one out in the fifth, went to third on Encarnacion's bloop single to shallow right and scored on Williams' second wild pitch of the year.

Cardinals pick minority consultants on ballpark project

The Cardinals announced Tuesday that the club has hired consultants to recruit minority participants for the planned ballpark project.

The Cardinals said Roberts-Roberts Associates, in conjunction with the Missouri/Kansas Construction Contractors Assistance Center and ADE Consulting Services, will help to ensure minority participation on the project.

The planned 45,000-seat ballpark is expected to cost about $325 million and to be ready to replace Busch Stadium by Opening Day 2006.

Noteworthy

LHP Dontrelle Willis can tie the Marlins' rookie record with 11 wins, set by Brian Meadows in 1998, when he starts Wednesday night against fellow rookie Dan Haren.

Williams also had nine strikeouts May 10 at Chicago.

Pujols is 31-for-75 (.413) during his hitting streak.

Lowell is 20-for-55 (.364) during the last 15 games.

The game was the first between the teams since the Cardinals won 7-6 in 20 innings on April 27 in Miami, a game that lasted 6 hours, 7 minutes.

Williams faced the Marlins for the first time this season but pitched against them three times in spring training, allowing 14 earned runs in 8 2/3 innings.