Wainwright likes what he sees in spring win

~ The returning Cardinals ace was sharp in a 4-2 victory against the Marlins

JUPITER, Fla. -- Adam Wainwright looked at himself in the mirror Sunday and liked what he saw.

Wainwright watched himself practice his motion before the game and then went out and limited the Marlins to one hit and an unearned run in four innings of the St. Louis Cardinals' 4-2 victory over Miami.

"Just get in front of the mirror and look at your body, delivery, mechanics," Wainwright said. "If you are going to make good adjustments on the mound, you need to understand your delivery. That's one of the things I try to stay on top of."

David Freese's three-run homer in the bottom of the eighth inning gave the Cardinals the lead. Marlins starter Carlos Zambrano allowed one run on four hits in four innings. Zambrano struck out seven, upping his spring total to 16 over 9 1/3 innings.

St. Louis Cardinals' David Freese is greeted at home plate by teammates Eugenio Velez, left, and Adron Chambers after batting them in on a three-run home run in the eighth inning of a spring training baseball game against the Miami Marlins in Jupiter, Fla., Sunday, March 18, 2012. St. Louis won 4-2. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

"I guess I went back to being a strikeout pitcher," Zambrano said. "Everything is there. I'm throwing the ball where I want to."

Wainwright, who missed the entire 2011 season after having elbow surgery, has started three games. He has allowed two hits and no runs.

"That shows he's not just healing, his focus and everything is there," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said.

Matheny was happy with all of Wainwright's pitches. Wainwright was pleased especially with his fastball.

"Last game my body was way out of control," Wainwright said. "Today I controlled my body, and that allowed me to get on top of the ball and throw a lot of good quality pitches down in the zone. Last time I was fighting the ball up in the zone."

John Buck's single in the third inning was the lone hit off Wainwright.

Marlins manager Ozzie Guillen has been preaching patience to right-hander Zambrano this spring, especially with runners on base.

"Carlos threw the ball better today," Guillen said. "When he got people on base he handled himself a lot better. If this kid can control that, he's going to have a chance to be what he was."

Zambrano pitched out of a two on and one out jam in the third inning by retiring Lance Berkman and Freese.

Zambrano said his biggest mistake was a ball Matt Holiday crushed for a double that hit the top of the outfield wall in left-center. Holiday was 2 for 3.

"He's a great hitter. He's strong," Zambrano said. "I made a mistake, and he's the type of hitter anybody makes a mistake to him he will make you pay."

The Cardinals face the Altanta Braves at noon today.