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Cards no-hit for 8 by Marlins

The Cardinals had seven of the eight position players they expect to start on opening day in in the lineup.
Credit: AP
St. Louis Cardinals relief pitcher Jordan Hicks (49) grips the baseball before delivering a pitch)

JUPITER, Fla. – The lens through which a manager can look at a loss is different in spring training than it is during the regular season.

Thus it was possible for Mike Shildt to look at a game in which the Cardinals were no-hit for eight innings on Sunday and find some positive takeaways.

“You see a guy in (John) Gant who was able to pitch around some things and make some pitches when he had to and limit damage,” Shildt said. “Defense was really clean. Testament to how we compete; no-hit through eight and the guys look up and bear down.

“Bear down just means a little more focus. You look up and you have the tying run with (Andrew) Knizner, (Jose) Martinez and (Tyler) O’Neill coming up. Feel pretty good about what that looks like but at the end of the day it wasn’t good enough. Take out the positives and continue to build more consistency with other areas.”

The Cardinals had seven of the eight position players they expect to start on opening day in Milwaukee in the lineup against the Marlins, with only Matt Carpenter missing.

Former Gateway Grizzlies pitcher Trevor Richards kept that group hitless through the first six innings, and for the first eight innings the only Cardinals to reach base were because of errors (two) and a hit by pitch (one).

In the ninth, however, Dexter Fowler broke up the no-hit bid with a clean single to right leading off the inning.

The Cardinals still had Fowler, Paul Goldschmidt and Paul DeJong in the lineup in the ninth not because Shildt wanted to break up the no-hitter but just because of the pace of the game. All had been scheduled to get at least three at-bats and play at least seven innings.

The team has seven games left before breaking camp and leaving Florida.

“If you come out of spring training and you haven’t worked on certain things then you have a high likelihood of not playing clean baseball,” Shildt said about the start of the regular season. “I really believe that spring training is an opportunity to work on getting ready for the season. That’s the mindset we have. We’re building our blocks. We still have a nice week of games left and we’re in a really good spot for it.

“I feel good about where we are heading for playing the Brewers on March 28.”

Here is how the game broke down:

High: Despite a forecast calling for a good chance of rain, it turned into a beautiful south Florida spring afternoon.

Low: The two-hit day dropped the Cardinals’ team batting average through the first 24 games this spring to .228, the lowest in the majors.

At the plate: Goldschmidt followed Fowler’s hit with a single, the Cardinals’ only other hit in the game … Knizner drove in a run with a ground out, and the other run scored on an error … The Cardinals also failed to draw a walk in the game … Marcell Ozuna was 0-of-2, dropping his spring average to .111.

On the mound: Gant worked four innings but had to come out of the game at that point because of an elevated pitch count. He gave up one run on four hits … Gant, competing for the open spot in the rotation, will get one more start this spring … A leadoff walk led to the first run of the spring against Chris Beck, and Tyler Webb gave up a two-run homer in the eighth.

Off the field: Carpenter was scratched from Sunday’s lineup because of tightness in his back, which occurred when he was working out on Saturday. Shildt said he was not overly concerned, and that Carpenter’s absence was a precautionary move. He also is expected to miss Monday’s game, and the team has a day off on Tuesday. Shildt said he is hopeful Carpenter will be able to play on Wednesday … First baseman Rangel Ravelo had an MRI on Sunday because of a rib injury suffered a few days ago which has lingered. X-rays on Saturday were negative … Carlos Martinez’s wife gave birth to a baby girl on Saturday.

Up next: Dakota Hudson, the other candidate for the starting rotation, will get the start on Monday against the Phillies in Jupiter with Andrew Miller, Alex Reyes and Jordan Hicks set to pitch in relief. Miles Mikolas and Jack Flaherty are scheduled to pitch against each other in a minor-league squad game between Memphis and Springfield on a back field.

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