Now you see it, now you don't; Beckett's switch stumps Cards

MIAMI -- At first, the St. Louis Cardinals hit Josh Beckett as if they knew what pitch was coming. And that may have been the case.

A change in his delivery solved the problem, and the rookie lasted six innings Wednesday night to help the Florida Marlins beat St. Louis 8-5.

The Marlins have been concerned about Beckett tipping his pitches with mannerisms in his motion, and manager Jeff Torborg's suspicions were raised again when the right-hander gave up three runs and four hits in the second inning.

"I might be wrong, but I thought I saw something, so I wanted to change something," Torborg said. "We worked on it on the bench."

After giving up three runs and loading the bases with one out in the second, Beckett (4-4) retired 10 in a row. He departed after allowing seven hits and five runs, including Jim Edmonds' 22nd homer.

Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said Beckett wasn't telegraphing his pitches.

"There's an art to stealing them, and it's a common problem with young pitchers, but we didn't have anything on Beckett," La Russa said. "I respect Jeff Torborg, so I would tell him the truth. I'll talk to him Thursday."

Beckett said doubted he was tipping his pitches. He believes he throws his fastball and curve with the same motion

"I don't see any difference," he said. "I've looked at the tapes. I don't look for any excuses. They hit me hard, that's all there is to it."

The Cardinals had a chance to chase the rookie in the second. Trailing 4-3 with the bases loaded, J.D. Drew and Albert Pujols struck out swinging to end the inning.

That dropped St. Louis' average to .209 with the bases loaded this season.

"We had two good shots there," La Russa said. "We got to Beckett, just not enough."

The Marlins, who had been outscored 95-52 in the first inning this season, bucked the trend by taking a 4-0 lead in the first against Travis Smith (4-2). That ended Florida's 21-inning scoreless streak at home.

Mike Redmond doubled home three runs in the first inning. Juan Encarnacion tripled home a run, stole two bases and scored twice, and Luis Castillo drove in two runs with a single and a double.

Braden Looper pitched the ninth for his third save in six chances.

Scott Rolen went 2-for-4, drove in a run and scored once in his second game for the Cardinals.

"We were never in control of this game, but we still had an opportunity to win it," Rolen said. "That's what you want to do."

Redmond tied his career high of three RBIs with one swing. After fouling a ball off his knee, he pulled a 2-2 pitch into the corner, hiking the Marlins' average with the bases loaded to .176.

On Tuesday, Florida loaded the bases in the first and second inning and failed to score in a 5-0 loss to St. Louis.

Smith lasted just 1 1-3 innings and allowed six runs, raising his road ERA to 10.09 in nine games. Smith was pitching in place of Chuck Finley, whose scheduled start was pushed back to Thursday so he could attend to a personal matter in California.

"Right now I'm battling inconsistency," Smith said. "It seems like every other start I'm killing our bullpen."

In the first inning Smith hit a batter, gave up an RBI double to Preston Wilson and walked two to load the bases. Redmond cleared them with his two-out double.

The Cardinals closed to 4-3 in the second. Rolen singled home the first run and Eli Marrero hit a bases-loaded sacrifice fly. Smith drove in another run with a scratch single when his sacrifice bunt attempt rolled under the glove of Derrek Lee charging from first base.

Florida answered with three in the bottom of the second for a 7-3 lead. Castillo singled home a run to knock out Smith, Encarnacion greeted Luther Hackman with an RBI triple, and Wilson singled home another run.