Marquis becomes headline performer

ST. LOUIS -- Evidently, all Jason Marquis needed was a change of scenery.

The right-handed pitcher was marooned in the minor leagues most of last year, going winless with the Atlanta Braves. But he enters Tuesday's start at Cincinnati with a 10-4 record for the St. Louis Cardinals and his career firmly back on track.

After acquiring him in an offseason deal that sent J.D. Drew and Eli Marrero to Atlanta, the Cardinals handed him the No. 5 starting job with no strings attached.

That allowed Marquis, who already has exceeded his career best of eight victories in 2002, to build his resume.

"When a pitcher is trying to establish himself, one thing you have to develop is confidence that they can pitch here and pitch effectively and successfully," Cardinals pitching coach Dave Duncan said. "In order to do that you have to be given the opportunity, and he's been given that."

With the Braves, Marquis, 25, felt a lot more pressure to produce without the occasional slips that often accompany the development of a young pitcher.

"I felt like when I was in Atlanta, I was always looking over my shoulder, worrying about what was going to happen next," Marquis said. "So I wasn't really going out there pitching my game, pitching on the offensive.

"Coming over here, they're giving me the ball every five days and it's really made a difference."

Marquis was effective last year for Class AAA Richmond with an 8-4 record and 3.35 ERA, and in St. Louis he's been one cog of what has been a surprisingly good rotation, featuring Matt Morris (11-6), Chris Carpenter (10-4), Jeff Suppan (9-6) and Woody Williams (7-6). Marquis has been one of the strongest links, going 7-0 in his past nine starts and 9-1 in his past 12 to lower his ERA to 3.76.

He's coming off one of his best outings, when he scattered nine hits in eight shutout innings Thursday in a 4-0 victory over Milwaukee. The game illustrated his willingness to utilize his biggest strength, a sinking fastball that produced only two strikeouts but also 18 ground-ball outs.

Marquis -- the Cardinals' hardest thrower at a consistent 94 mph -- isn't trying to strike everybody out anymore. That wasn't the case before he came to St. Louis.

"He didn't throw many sinkers over there, and it's pretty much all sinkers here," Duncan said. "All pitchers want to strike people out until they realize there's an easier way to do things.

"And it's not like we're asking him to do something that's away from his strengths."

The trade has worked out for both parties. The Cardinals also got left-handed reliever Ray King, who had a minuscule 1.67 ERA, and minor-league pitching prospect Adam Wainwright, who's sidelined with a shoulder injury after some impressive work at Triple-A Memphis.

A healthy Drew had 24 homers and a .312 average, and Marrero was batting .344 in limited action for the Braves after two stints on the disabled list.

When the Cardinals made the deal, they were more excited about adding another left-handed setup man in King. So far, Marquis has been the headliner.

"I'm sure he's eliminated some questions he had about himself," Duncan said. "The thing to do now is to continue to build on it and put a whole year together.

"Then you have to put years together, and that's how you establish yourself as a top pitcher."