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 almost certainly will be on the team that goes to New York Thursday. He tossed just eight pitches, seven for strikes, in his one inning and he completed his spring work by pitching 12 innings, striking out 13, giving up just five hits and neither a run nor a walk.
Ian McKinney, who was at Class AA Springfield and Class A gave up five runs in the top of the fifth inning to put the Cardinals down 6-0.