JUPITER, Fla. — Cardinals starter Kyle Lohse didn’t have his best stuff Thursday, but he had enough stuff to continue the club’s sizzling close to its Florida schedule and he had the kind of stuff he’d take in any regular-season start.

Lohse worked five innings against Florida and pushed the Cardinals halfway to a 2-0 victory against the Marlins on Thursday. The Cardinals finished Grapefruit League play on a seven-game winning streak and 12-1-1 over their final 14 games. As impressively, they outscored their opponents 66-24 in their final 10 games.

The new righthander didn’t have the best command of his fastball, but he was able to work his changeup effectively and play off his slider for success.

He mixed in a few curveballs, too, for effect, like Dave Duncan has requested.

“Dropped a couple in there,” Lohse said. ”Used it more as a first pitch, kind of dropped it in there. Changeup was really good today. Got a lot of groundballs and things off the end of the bat with that. That’s a good sign right there. You can get by with fastball/changeup. There’s a couple guys out there than can do that.”

This was Lohse’s second start of spring, though he’s worked out well enough in advance that he was able to get deep into the game as if it was his fourth or fifth start of spring. Lohse threw 67 pitches (43 strikes) over his five innings. He allowed three hits and struck out four, in addition to getting a tremendous defensive play from Cesar Izturis (see: previous blog entry). To display or increase his stamina, Lohse then threw an additional 13 pitches, or an “inning”, in the bullpen before calling it a day.

Said manager Tony La Russa about Lohse’s ability to get through his innings, successfully, without his fastball complying: “He’s got a lot of weapons, now.”

Lohse will skip his start in the first turn of the rotation and make his Cardinals debut a week from Sunday against Washington.

He will throw Tuesday in a simulated game. The Cardinals are bringing up some hitters from Class AA Springfield to face him at Busch Stadium.

Lohse called it “more than a regular bullpen” but it’s less than a game start. He’ll use it to work on the reason why he couldn’t spot his fastball Thursday. His arm slot was inconsistent, he said.

“Just need a touch-up,” Lohse said. “Just do what I need to do before that first start.”

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On outscoring opponents by 42 runs over the previous 10 games, La Russa said:

“I didn’t even pay attention. Some of those things can be misleading. The game got away. Depends on who was playing for the other side. Are they just letting guys get work?”

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See a “peal” is the loud ringing of a bell, as in the Cardinals made a loud clanging with the way they finished spring training, winning like they did … and see, it’s a double-meaning because a grapefruit has a peel … Heck, it’s been a long spring, OK.

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The scheduled starters for Springfield against the Cardinals this weekend are LHP Jaime Garcia, considered the best pitching prospect in the organization, on Friday, and, on Saturday, RHP P.J. Walters, the reigning pitcher of the year.

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The final batting averages from Grapefruit League play for what could be the Cardinals opening day starting lineup Monday against Colorado lefty Jeff Francis. Not one of the Cardinals possible first five hitters hit less than .350.

Will be interesting to see exactly how this translates from Florida to regular season.

1. Skip Schumaker … .394 … another two hits Thursday.

2. Brian Barton … .351 … coin flip for opening day start.

3. Albert Pujols … .407 … two walks Thursday.

4. Troy Glaus … ..364 … two walks and RBI on Thursday.

5. Rick Ankiel … .351 … and 0-for-4 day drops his average there.

6. Yadier Molina … .222 … after an 0-for-4 day.

7. Adam Kennedy … .276 … singled Thursday, but finished on 2-for-16 sink.

8. PITCHER

9. Cesar Izturis … .196 … 1-for-3 put him on cusp, 4-for-13 to close.

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La Russa still has not shaken his hand, but Kyle McClellan gave the Cardinals reasons to put him on that opening day roster. The Hazelwood West righthander worked two scoreless innings in relief of Lohse. He struck out two and lowered his spring ERA to 1.38. McClellan’s ability to blend his breaking ball with velocity — he was considered one of the club’s top power arms last season — worked to hold the Marlins to one hit.

In his last 6 1/3 innings of work this spring, he’s allowed two hits and struck out six.

“Now that was impressive,” La Russa said. “He was out there pitching without any guarantees.”

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McClellan and Brian Barton are the only players left in their corner of the clubhouse down here at Roger Dean Stadium. Yesterday, as Barton was telling the media about the 100 text messages he sent out — “And more to come,” he said — to tell people he made the team, he wondered about opening day. That was when McClellan, the St. Louis native, leaned over.

“Wait until you see the Clydesdales,” he said.

“This whole thing,” Barton answer, “makes me feel like a kid again.”

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And, speaking of kids: Little man Ian, one more sleep time and I’ll be home. 

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