JUPITER, Fla. • In their final home exhibition game, the Cardinals trotted out nine pitchers in nine innings. Some were minor leaguers, and righthander Mike Mayers, who started the game, came to camp with that designation.
But Mayers will be on the team that goes to New York for Thursday’s opener. He tossed just eight pitches, seven for strikes, in his one inning Saturday. He said he expected to pitch two innings, as he had done in every other appearance, but manager Mike Matheny told him he was finished after one.
“When Mike told me I was done, he also told me I needed to pack my bags for New York,” Mayers said.