Suppan kicks off St. Louis' shutout victory

The right-hander pitched two innings, as the Cardinals combined on a three-hitter.

JUPITER, Fla. -- Jeff Suppan and Dontrelle Willis both were pleased with their pitching performances in the St. Louis Cardinals' 3-0 victory against Florida on Saturday.

Suppan, the Cardinals' right-hander, gave up only one hit and struck out two in two innings. He threw only fastballs and changeups to the Marlins.

"When I concentrate on throwing only two pitches, it helps me see what I'm doing," Suppan said. "I need to locate the fastball first, then the changeup and then I can add the curveball and the cutter."

"That's what spring training is for, if you have already made the club," Cardinal manager Tony La Russa said of Suppan's strategy.

Willis, who gave up six runs in a loss to the University of Miami earlier in the week, allowed only four hits in four scoreless innings.

"That's baseball," Willis said about the two outings. "I try to focus on what I did well and what I didn't do well."

Willis escaped in the third when a two-out error loaded the bases with Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols at the plate. Pujols hit a hard line drive to left but Miguel Cabrera made a nice catch to save at least two runs.

Pujols hit a towering home run in the sixth.

"I believe he hit that line drive as hard as he hit the homer," La Russa said. "I think he's a keeper. He's for real."

Pujols homered in the sixth inning to give St. Louis a 1-0 lead. Roger Cedeno added a two-run pinch-hit double in the seventh.

Adam Wainwright, Julian Tavarez, Kevin Jarvis, Randy Flores and Al Reyes completed the shutout. Jarvis was the winner.

Cardinals first baseman John Mabry sprained his right elbow on his last at bat and is listed as day to day.