JUPITER, Fla.?? The Cardinals continue to flex against the Marlins this afternoon, none with better distance than Matt Adams'.
Adams clubbed his second home run of spring and, like the first, it took awhile before it landed. Adams launched a fastball over the right-field fence and onto a patio that is 20 feet behind the wall and 20 feet up from the ground. The patio is outside the Cardinals' front office's office space at Roger Dean Stadium.
Rob Johnson followed with a homer that tagged the BurgerBar sign in left field and apparently won him a $100 gift certificate to the nearby restaurant.
Johnson's was the fifth homer hit by the Cardinals.
Home runs by Oscar Taveras and Matt Holliday earlier in the game staked the Cardinals to a lead and Johnson, Matt Adams, and Ronny Cedeno increased it with three solo shots for a 7-2 victory against the Marlins.
A week ago, Adams hit a home run that cleared the 17-foot wall in dead center field at Boston's jetBlue Park.
More updates from today's game below.
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Cedeno homers to push lead
Ronny Cedeno added to the show of force by the Cardinals this afternoon with the third homer of the game by their lineup and the fourth homer overall in the exhibition tilt at Roger Dean Stadium.
Cedeno hit a solo home run in the bottom of the seventh inning to push the Cardinals to a 5-2 lead against Miami.
Earlier in the game stalwart Matt Holliday and prospect Oscar Taveras hit matching two-run homers to center field.
Lefty Kevin Siegrist allowed a solo homer to Austin Barnes.
It came in minor-leaguer Barnes' first at-bat of spring training.
Cardinals starter Jake Westbrook went three innings and allowed one run. He threw 40 pitches and while he allowed a few more fly balls than ideal, he said pitching coach Derek Lilliquist offered some advice.
"Mishit balls are mishit balls," Westbrook recalled Lilliquist saying. "Outs are outs."
Westbrook, who had his previous outing cut short by a liner off the knee, said he felt no fatigue headed into the third inning. His results offered evidence to that effect.
"It was good to get my work in this time," Westbrook said. "Get the allotted pitches in."
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Homers by Taveras, Holliday lift Cards to early lead
Even with a sinkerballer on the mound for the Cardinals, there have been a lot of balls lofted into the air this afternoon at Roger Dean Stadium.
The Cardinals have been able to twice loft them over the wall.
Matt Holliday cranked a two-run homer over the center-field wall to give the Cardinals a 4-1 lead through three innings against the Miami Marlins. Holliday's second home run of spring came an inning after prospect Oscar Taveras' two-run bolt put the Cardinals ahead.
Holliday has reached base in both of his plate appearances. Taveras is 2-for-2 with a homer and a double through three innings.
The Marlins were able to sneak one run off starter Jake Westbrook during his three innings of work. The Cardinals' sinkerballer limited the Marlins to one run on four hits and one walk. He struck out two. He was not able to keep the Marlins grounded as a series of outs came in the air.
Westbrook needed 40 pitches (26 strikes) to get nine outs.
Trevor Rosenthal is on in relief of Westbrook.
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Taveras' second homer powers Cards to 2-1
The Cardinals aren't the only team getting an eyeful of young slugger Oscar Taveras this spring.
The Miami Marlins know the sting of his bat, too.
Taveras hit his second home run in as many games against the Roger Dean Stadium co-tenants, lifting a two-run shot over the wall in center field. Earlier this spring, Taveras connected on a pitch from Jacob Turner for a grand slam against the Marlins.
Taveras' second home run of spring put the Cardinals ahead 2-0.
The Marlins answered with Donovan Solano's RBI single in the top of the third inning to slice the score down to 2-1. Solano, a former Cardinals farmhand who was set free from the system, is likely to be the Marlins' starting second baseman.
Batting sixth and starting in right field, Taveras was able to reach a pitch up in the zone and still give it enough loft to carry, carry, carry out to center field. Ty Wigginton singled ahead of Taveras to give the young outfielder two RBIs.
Taveras leads the Cardinals with eight RBIs so far this spring.
Shane Robinson has seven.
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So, about that whole situational hitting thing
In this morning's Post-Dispatch, we talked about the games the Cardinals are playing as part of the team's emphasis this spring on some of the things that cost them consistency last summer: execution when it came to bunts and situational hitting.
Naturally the first inning offered examples of how the Cardinals can still hit and run ... their way out of an inning.
Jon Jay opened the inning with a leadoff double. Matt Carpenter, batting second, failed to advance Jay to third with a groundball. He flew out to left field. Matt Holliday walked and that's when things really got curious.
With Allen Craig at the plate and one out, Jay took off for third.
Holliday stayed at first. Craig is more than capable of driving in the runner from second base. Advancing 90 feet with one out and Craig at the plate seemed like an unusual gamble -- for the regular season. Maybe they were trying something. Maybe there was a missed sign. Maybe it just was a flub. Probably it's something that wouldn't be attempted in the regular season in that spot.
Jay was thrown out easily at third, Holliday didn't advance.
The inning promptly ended with Craig flying out to right field for the third out. That could have been the second out with Jay going to third on it. That could have been the second out and scored Jay had he been advanced earlier in the inning.
You get the idea.
Jake Westbrook pitched a scoreless first inning and allowed one groundball base hit. Westbrook has held the Marlins to one hit through two innings.
The game is tied, 0-0, entering the bottom of the second.
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