Ponson pleased with second outing

~ The Cardinals' new pitcher allowed one run in four innings of their 3-0 loss to the Marlins.

JUPITER, Fla. -- Sidney Ponson liked his second spring training start better than his first.

Ponson allowed one run in four innings -- a solo homer by Jason Stokes -- in the St. Louis Cardinals' 3-0 loss to a Florida Marlins' split squad on Thursday.

Ponson struck out four in two innings against the Marlins last weekend but gave up three hits.

"I felt much better than my first outing," he said. "My mechanics are 100 percent better, but I'm still leaving the ball up in the zone."

Ponson didn't come near his 60-pitch limit. He induced six groundouts and five flyouts.

"I used to throw hard and try and strike everyone out," he said. "Now I throw about 91, 92 mph and just try to get outs. I'd rather throw nine innings of 95 pitches than six innings of 110 pitches. "

Seven pitchers combined on a five-hitter in Florida's second shutout of the Cardinals in spring training.

Winner Ricky Nolasco allowed one hit in 2 2/3 innings, and Travis Bowyer escaped a two-hit ninth.

"More good pitching," first-year Marlins manager Joe Girardi said. "Nolasco was outstanding. Pretty much all the way down the line was good pitching. We ran into some bumps there late, but the pitchers were able to pitch out of it."

Loser Anthony Reyes allowed two runs and five hits in three innings.

"I'm feeling a lot more comfortable out on the mound," said Reyes, who was working on a two-seam fastball. "It's all about building confidence in your pitches. It does move sometimes, so it's giving me a little hope. "

Jason Stokes singled home Lenny Harris in the second, and Hanley Ramirez homered leading off the third.

Jim Edmonds was out of the lineup again because of a sore calf muscle.

Baseball notes

• Boos coming his way from all directions when he stepped into the batter's box for the first time, Barry Bonds played his first spring training game in two years and went 1-for-2 in the San Francisco Giants' 6-5 loss to the Los Angeles Angels on Thursday.

Bonds struck out in his first at-bat and singled sharply to right in his third-inning at-bat. He left the ballpark in the top of the fourth inning.

Bonds played his first game of the year two days after the release of excerpts from an upcoming book detailing his alleged longtime steroids regimen.

"I don't worry about that stuff," he said during a 20-minute interview session at his locker back at Scottsdale Stadium. "We can react about baseball questions or we don't have a conversation. That's my reaction."

* Ben Sheets came out of Milwaukee's game against Oakland with irritation in a back muscle, the same area which caused him to miss the final month of last season.

* New York Mets left fielder Cliff Floyd is awaiting results of kidney tests after abnormalities were found in his urine.