Smoltz ready for second start with Cardinals

ST. LOUIS -- Heading into his first start at home with the St. Louis Cardinals, John Smoltz realizes it'll be impossible to top his debut.

The 42-year-old right-hander worked five scoreless innings with nine strikeouts, including seven in a row, on Sunday in San Diego. It was the first step, and potentially a giant one, in an effort to distance himself from an out-of-character stint with the Red Sox that led to his release earlier this month.

Smoltz was 2-5 with an 8.32 ERA in Boston, allowing five or more earned runs in six of his eight starts. He's 1-0 with an 0.00 ERA heading into today's start against the lowly Nationals.

"Certainly, I can't go in and try to duplicate it," Smoltz said. "But at the same time I want to be able to go out and keep the ballclub in the game, and allow the crowd to be as loud as possible. And certainly pitch as deep as I can."

Earlier in the week, Smoltz said he wanted to pitch next year and conclude a career that almost certainly will land him in the Hall of Fame on his own terms.

"For whatever reason, someone has always finished the story for me," Smoltz said. "I should win 20, I shouldn't have gone to closer, then I should have been a closer my whole life, then when I went from closer to starter they said I was crazy and this is the dumbest thing I've ever done.

"I did not want to come back and be that guy that people feel sorry for."

He realizes there are skeptics who have labeled his St. Louis debut a fluke against inferior competition.

"I've been around enough people, they'll find reasons to take away the seven strikeouts," Smoltz said. "To me, throwing pitches and knowing where you can throw them and being effective and having the confidence on the mound, that's all I need."

Smoltz said he felt no pressure in his start against the Padres, and hopes he can be just as relaxed in the second start for the NL Central leaders. He believes the Cardinals are a perfect fit because they don't need him to be an ace, even if they're shy of starters for the time being with both Kyle Lohse and Todd Wellemeyer on the 15-day disabled list.

St. Louis leads the division by nine games, the biggest cushion in the majors, with 33 games to go.

"In this capacity, there was no need to be the savior, and no need to step right in," Smoltz said. "I didn't have to save the situation and certainly whatever role I work myself into or they put me into, I'm going to be looking forward to some great stuff."

Adam Wainwright, tied for the major league lead with 15 victories, used Smoltz as a pitching role model growing up. Both came up in the Braves system.

"His mentoring me was patterning myself after him," Wainwright said. "John Smoltz is the guy I wanted to pitch like since I was 7 years old."

Down the road, the Cardinals may shift Smoltz to relief. For now he's part of one of the National League's top rotations. The Cardinals are 28-4 since July 1 in starts by Wainwright, Chris Carpenter and Joel Pineiro.

Smoltz is ready to do whatever the Cardinals ask. He respects Duncan's track record, and the testimonials of pitchers he's helped developed over the years.

"He understands what the surgery did to me," Smoltz said. "It's easy to say, 'Just do this,' but he understands some of the limits that I'm facing.

"So you work from that and you work on trying to keep the ball down, which has always been my forte but has been my Achilles' heel this year," he said.