Wainwright struggles with his control in his first exhibition start

JUPITER, Fla. -- Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright struggled with his focus in his first start since last April and Matt Holliday made his professional debut at first base Monday as St. Louis beat a New York Mets split squad 9-4.

Wainwright walked three in two scoreless innings. He gave up two hits and struck out two.

"It was clear to me mid-first inning that my focus was not honed enough, that I was sort of soft focusing instead of hard focusing on a small target -- aim small, miss small-type stuff," Wainwright said. "I was kind throwing to a general area instead of throwing to a precise spot."

Wainwright tore his Achilles tendon while running out of the batter's box April 25. He returned from the disabled list late last season but only pitched in relief. By making his first Grapefruit League start in this game, he's on pace to pitch the opener April 3.

Holliday made his spring debut and neatly blocked a pickoff throw from Wainwright that bounced. The veteran left fielder spent the early part of camp learning to play first base, though the Cardinals don't expect to use him there much this year.

Holliday was scheduled to make his debut Saturday but was scratched because of back stiffness. He played four innings Monday and went hitless in two at-bats.

Mets starter Steven Matz breezed through the first two innings before allowing a run in the third. He struck out the side in the second on 12 pitches.

"I was just worried about making pitches," said Matz, who went 4-0 with a 2.27 ERA in six starts as a rookie last season. "The strikeouts, I wasn't really thinking about them. They just come sometimes. It felt good to definitely get a couple of those."

The Cardinals scored five times in the fifth for a 6-1 lead. Stephen Piscotty drove in his second run of the game with a single and Jedd Gyorko added a two-run double, his second hit of the day.

Danny Muno hit an RBI single in the Mets third.

Up next

Cardinals: Michael Wacha will make his spring debut today in a start vs. the Twins. He was 17-7 with a 3.38 ERA last season.