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Marquis shuts down former teammates

Apr 22, 2007 - 12:55 AM CHICAGO (Ticker) -- Jason Marquis made the most of his first start against his former team.

Marquis pitched seven scoreless innings and Michael Barrett hit a three-run home run as the Chicago Cubs beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 6-0, in the second game of a three-game series.

Marquis (2-1), who won 42 regular-season games with St. Louis from 2004-06, allowed seven hits and no walks while striking out five.

"I try not to get amped up about (facing the Cardinals)," Marquis said. "I was able to mentally slow myself down, slow my body down so I could make pitches. The (Cubs and Cardinals) fans set the tone for everything. I played with these guys, so we're friends. Between the lines, we're going after each other."

Marquis, who signed a three-year $21 million deal with the Cubs in the offseason, worked out of two early jams before settling in and retiring nine consecutive batters between the fourth and seventh innings.

Barrett gave Marquis all the support he needed with a three-run homer in the first inning off St. Louis starter Anthony Reyes (0-3), who allowed four runs, seven hits and no walks while striking out five in six innings.

"I tried to throw (Barrett) a two-seamer in," Reyes said. "The ball came in a little off the plate. I got underneath it a little bit. The ball kind of rose up and he got a good piece of it."

The Cardinals went 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position and are 0-for-17 in that situation in this series.

"There actually has been improvement, but it's not something dramatic where all of a sudden you jump out with a bunch of hits," Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said. "The at-bats are getting better, the contact is getting better, so we feel the production will get better."

"We hit the ball hard. We just didn't find any holes," Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols said. "Their center fielder (Felix Pie) made a couple of outstanding plays. If some of those balls would have fallen in the gap, it would have changed the entire makeup of the ballgame."

Will Ohman pitched two hitless innings of relief to complete the shutout.

Matt Murton and Derrek Lee hit back-to-back singles with one out. After Aramis Ramirez stuck out swinging, Barrett hit a 2-0 pitch over the wall in left field for his third home run of the season.

Ronny Cedeno hit his second homer and had an RBI double for the Cubs, who posted their second shutout of the season at Wrigley Field.

Chris Duncan had two hits for the Cardinals.