Young Marlins handle Cards

MIAMI -- Florida manager Fredi Gonzalez was certain Rick Vanden Hurk had accepted his role as a spot starter. But after a strong performance by the young right-hander on short notice Tuesday night, that might not be the case.

Hanley Ramirez drove in three runs and Vanden Hurk, recalled from Class AAA Albuquerque on Tuesday morning, pitched five sharp innings as the Marlins beat the St. Louis Cardinals 4-0.

Vanden Hurk (3-2), a native of the Netherlands, allowed five hits, struck out six and walked one to win his first major league start since beating Kansas City on June 16.

"I felt more relaxed and comfortable today," said Vanden Hurk, who tossed a scoreless inning to earn the win for the World Team in last week's All-Star Futures game. "I want to stay here as long as I can and make sure we win like we did today."

The 22-year-old Vanden Hurk had been called up from the minors twice before, and entered with an 8.38 ERA in seven appearances for Florida. He started in place of Josh Johnson, who has been on the disabled list since July 5 with a right forearm strain.

"I'm very happy with today," Vanden Hurk said. "My fastball was down and I was happy I could keep it there."

Five Marlins relievers then scattered two hits over the final four innings to preserve the shutout.

"[Vanden Hurk] did an outstanding job against an outstanding lineup," Gonzalez said. "Then it was another nice job by the bullpen."

Brad Thompson (6-4) pitched six innings, giving up three runs and seven hits for St. Louis, which hadn't been shut out since losing 2-0 to the New York Mets on June 27.

"I was one pitch away from being a good pitcher," Thompson said. "I'm just mad at myself for making a few mistakes. It's just a frustrating day."

Florida took a 1-0 lead in the third when Alfredo Amezaga led off with a single, then advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Vanden Hurk. Hanley Ramirez followed with an RBI double to right, extending his hitting streak to nine games.

The Marlins stretched their lead to 3-0 in the fifth on Ramirez's two-run homer off Thompson. Joe Borchard hit a pinch-hit single before Ramirez homered over the left-field scoreboard, his 15th of the year.

"We're at home now so we need to win games like this," Ramirez said. "I like to do what I can to help motivate my team."

Todd Linden hit a pinch-hit double off reliever Russ Springer in the seventh, then scored on a broken-bat single by Dan Uggla to make the score 4-0.

"It was pretty ugly but I'll take anything right about now," Uggla said. "Hits have been few and far between for me."

The Cardinals threatened with runners at second and third and nobody out in the third inning. Albert Pujols lined to short and Ramirez dropped it, but he recovered to easily throw out Pujols. Vanden Hurk intentionally walked Chris Duncan to load the bases, then struck out Scott Rolen and got Juan Encarnacion to fly out to get out of the inning.

Noteworthy

• The Marlins optioned RHP Wes Obermueller to Albuquerque to make room for Vanden Hurk.
• Cabrera was hit in the stomach by a pitch in the first inning.
• St. Louis pitcher Chris Carpenter met with doctors Tuesday to discuss recurrent elbow pain. Manager Tony La Russa did not provide any more details.
• Gonzalez said Marlins OF Cody Ross is days from being added to the active roster. Ross was transferred to the 60-day disabled list June 26 with a left hamstring strain.