Result: Cardinals 4, Marlins 4 (tie)
Weather: 75 degrees, sunny
By Rob Rains
JUPITER, Fla. – Pedro Pages arrived in the majors last year with a reputation of being a defense-first catcher. While that is still true, he is trying to show this spring that he can contribute to the Cardinals on offense as well.
Pages and Jose Fermin hit back-to-back home runs in the seventh inning on Tuesday as the Cardinals played to a tie against the Marlins.
“It’s something I’ve been working on in the cages,” Pages said. “Trying to get my swing right and get to the right place. Seeing some success with that means a lot.”
It was the first home run of the spring for Pages, who also had a single in three at-bats. He is hitting .241 for the spring.
“I take pride in my defense but I also want to take pride in my hitting,” said Pages, who will split the catching duties with Ivan Herrera this season. “I’m going to keep working. I think the work I am putting in every day has been great.”
Here is how Tuesday’s game broke down:
High: JoJo Romero and Chris Roycroft each pitched another scoreless inning. Neither reliever has allowed a run all spring.
Low: Masyn Winn had to be scratched from the starting lineup because of soreness in his right wrist.
At the plate: Lars Nootbaar played center field and moved into the leadoff spot when Winn was scratched. He walked twice in four trips to the plate and leads the Cardinals with 12 walks in 46 plate appearances … Fermin had his second consecutive two-hit game as he started in left field. He has raised his spring average to .282 … Alec Burleson and Nolan Arenado had the team’s other RBIs, on a ground out by Burleson and a sacrifice fly from Arenado.
On the mound: Miles Mikolas became the first Cardinal to pitch six innings this spring, throwing 86 pitches. He allowed three runs on six hits, walked two and struck out four … Romero and Roycroft have each worked eight innings this spring without allowing a run.
Worth noting: The move with Winn was said to be precautionary. “He felt soreness during the (morning) workout and we didn’t want to try to push through it,” said manager Oli Marmol … Phil Maton will pitch in a simulated game on a back field on Wednesday and then likely will pitch in an official game either Friday or Saturday … The only Cardinal with more scoreless innings than Romero and Roycroft this spring is Kyle Leahy with 10.
Up next: Steven Matz will get the start on Wednesday as the Cardinals play the Nationals in Jupiter.
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