Suppan pitches around baserunners in win

JUPITER, Fla. -- Normally pitchers don't like to put runners on base. But it doesn't matter as much in spring training.

Cardinals righthander Jeff Suppan put runners on base in four of the five innings he pitched Saturday, but only one scored, thanks to some fine defense as the Cardinals posted a 6-2 win over the Dodgers.

"I wanted to concentrate on throwing my four-seam fastball, but I got away from it because I was throwing from the stretch a lot with runner on base," Suppan said after going 4 2/3 innings allowing five hits, one run and walking three.

"Throwing out of the stretch is a good thing because this is the time to work on holding the runners," he noted.

But Suppan wasn't happy with the walks.

"I never like to walk anyone, spring training or not," he said. "Even if I'm throwing bullpen in the offseason, I'm trying to throw strikes."

Dodgers starter Edwin Jackson also put a lot of runners on base, and most of them scored. Jackson, who went into the game with a 1-0 record and a 2.84 earned run average, gave up five runs on nine hits in three innings.

Albert Pujols hit his fourth home run of the spring, while Larry Walker hit his first homer. That was also Walker's first hit this spring in 12 at-bats.

The Cardinals turned two double plays in the first four innings.