Wainwright excels in spring debut as Cardinals tie Marlins 0-0 in seven innings

Adam Wainwright was stellar in his spring debut, but neither offense was able to get much going as the St. Louis Cardinals and Miami Marlins played to a scoreless tie over seven innings at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium on Tuesday afternoon.

Wainwright started and retired all six hitters he faced over 20 pitches, striking out one. Daniel Ponce de Leon followed Wainwright with two shutout innings, allowing one hit and two walks with two strikeouts. Matthew Liberatore, Jake Woodford and Tyler Webb each contributed a scoreless inning of relief.

The Cardinals’ offense was held at bay by Marlins starter Pablo López and relievers Braxton Garrett, Adam Cimber, Luís Madero and Dylan Lee. St. Louis managed just four hits, all singles. Two of them came in the first inning as Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado had back-to-back base hits. Arenado’s single was his first spring hit in a Cardinals uniform.

St. Louis had an opportunity to take the lead in the top of the seventh inning but was unable to score after loading the bases with no outs. The inning ended when Delvin Perez was thrown out at home plate by Marlins center fielder Brian Miller after attempting to score on a Justin Toerner flyout.

Catcher Tyler Heineman, a non-roster invitee who signed with the Cardinals in November after seeing limited major league action with the Marlins and Giants over the past two seasons, had an impressive day both defensively and offensively. After entering as a pinch-runner in the fourth, Heineman threw out two runners at second base and drew a leadoff walk in the seventh inning.

Kwang Hyun Kim is expected to start Wednesday as the Cardinals host the New York Mets in Jupiter.