St. Louis third baseman Nolan Arenado hit his first home run as a Cardinal in the first inning, as the Cardinals battled to a 3-3 tie with the Mets in the Spring Training finale Monday. Adam Wainwright came out of a long first inning, having allowed two runs while throwing 26 pitches, only to return for the second and third, firing a total of only 21 pitches in those innings as he blanked the Mets. Carlos Martinez, scheduled to start game 3 of the season in Cincinnati next weekend, pitched three innings. Martinez faced only nine hitters, walking one batter who was swallowed up in a double play.
Before the game, president of baseball operations John Mozeliak said lefthander Kwang Hyun Kim, rebounding from back stiffness, probably will miss two to three turns in the rotation. He will be replaced by righthander Daniel Ponce de Leon, who will pitch a week from Monday in Miami against the Marlins.
Righthander Miles Mikolas, who encountered a shoulder issue this spring following flexor tendon surgery of last year, won’t be back until May. Jack Flaherty will start for St. Louis in the season opener Thursday at Cincinnati, 2:15 with the pregame and first pitch at 3:10 on KIRX.