JUPITER, Fla. — The Florida Marlins tried to give the Cardinals plenty of chances to push the score and make a rout of Wednesday’s Grapefruit League opener. They really did. But a couple crossed signs and a whole bunch of flubs with runners in scoring position left the Cardinals with a 5-5 tie at Roger Dean Stadium.

Manager Tony La Russa said there were some “first-day sign problems” as the Cardinals tried to goose their offense and missed because their signals weren’t understood.

“We had a couple misses on some push things,” La Russa said. “We had the guy at third a few times. We didn’t pick him up. Some double play balls. But I tell you, don’t underestimate the quality of pitching we were facing.”

The Cardinals went 3-for-17 with runners in scoring position, and they had 20 plate appearances with runners in scoring position during the game. The Cardinals left 14 on base. Rick Ankiel had two of the three hits, and one of them came as a result of a friendly scoring decision that rewarded Ankiel with a hit for a poor fielding decision by a Marlin. (And, man, did they have plenty of those. They committed four errors in the box score, and that was merely an estimate of their real total.) Ankiel, batting cleanup, and two RBIs.

The was blown in the eighth with Fernando Salas on the mound. He gave up four hits, and he also struck out four.

Some performances of note from Game 1:

… ROYCE RING can rest assured there will be very few times during the regular season — if any at all — that he’s called from the bullpen to face a righthanded hitter with a runner on base. Yet, that’s how he made his spring debut. Ring came in to relieve Blake Hawksworth in the third inning, and waiting there for the lefty was Hanley Ramirez. Ring got a soft liner from Ramirez and then pitched an impressive fourth inning with two strikeouts.

“What stands out is the quality of pitches,” La Russa said. “He sinks the ball in the strike zone. He’s (got a) breaking ball with good tilt to lefthanders.”

… TYLER GREENE made some snazzy plays at third base, especially considering he’s spent most of the workouts at shortstop so far this spring. Of all the minor leaguers in camp, few have put themselves on the radar as much as Greene so far this spring. He had the kind of game Wednesday that earns him at-bats Thursday, and that’s after having the kind of scrimmage Tuesday that earned him the look Tuesday. Greene could get innings at third, shortstop and second this spring, and he could be flashing the (raw) tools that made him a first-round pick, a couple spots after Colby Rasmus.

“His skill level gets your attention,” La Russa said. “He’s made a good impression as far as the whole ball of wax.”

… BLAKE HAWKSWORTH threw well in his 2 2/3 innings, especially in his second and third inning of work. Hawksworth told us he turned down an invitation to be in Team Canada’s rotation after realizing the opportunity he would have to make an impression with the Cardinals.

… SKIP SCHUMAKER got through his first game at second base without seeing a groundball. That’s not to say he didn’t get his jersey a little dirty though. You can teach a leadoff hitter a new position, but you can’t get him to stop sliding headfirst into first base. Schumaker got himself an infield single with a head-first slide into first, a habit the Cardinals and La Russa have tried to break him of in past seasons. Schumaker insists that the dive is faster — because you dive for baseballs, right? He knows the risk. He has a separated shoulder in his past because of it. But he also doesn’t plan on changing.

That earned a smark remark from the manager, especially considering Schumaker’s current plight.

“Hasn’t cured that one, hasn’t cured that one,” La Russa joked. “Uncoachable-type player.”

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