Schumaker has 2 hits as Cardinals topple Orioles

JUPITER, Fla. (AP) — Skip Schumaker continued his strong spring with two hits helping the St. Louis Cardinals to a 8-2 win over the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday.

Schumaker, who is a candidate to be the starting right fielder, had an RBI triple in the fifth and a double in the sixth. He is batting .382 this spring and has a .412 on-base percentage.

“(Schumaker) has had an outstanding spring training in every true measure,” said Cardinals manager Tony La Russa, who has not announced his regular-season outfield. “I’ve been saying all along, let the competition decide and there isn’t anybody competing as well as he has, especially at the leadoff position.”

Unlike his previous two springs in the major league clubhouse, Schumaker started most of the games he played in the Grapefruit League. He has started 16 of 19 games.

“A nice thing about taking so many starts is that you face a lot of the guys you’ll face during the season, and I think that will help me during the year,” Schumaker said.

Schumaker played 55 major league games in 2006 and ’07 with the Cards. Last season, he played 88 for St. Louis, but started only 27 games in the outfield.

Cardinals outfielder Brian Barton had a scare during the game.

He was hit by a breaking pitch from Orioles reliever Greg Aquino and left the field with a bloody nose in the seventh inning.

“It got me pretty good, but it got me on the side, and there isn’t any break,” Barton said.

La Russa told Barton, along with pitcher Kyle McClellan, prior to the game that they should prepare to break with the team.

Orioles pitcher Jeremy Guthrie, who was selected as the opening day starter, struggled in the fifth inning. After pitching four scoreless innings, he allowed three earned runs in the fifth before being pulled. He allowed seven hits, walked one and struck out two for the loss.

Cardinals opening day starter Adam Wainwright earned the win after allowing one run and four hits in six innings. He struck out four and walked two.