Mar. 20—JUPITER, Fla. — Top prospect Jordan Walker broke the game open, but he didn’t do it with one of the blistering line drives or a towering home runs he’d unleashed earlier this spring.

This time, a bouncer to third base by Walker led to a throwing error and ignited a four-run sixth inning that lifted the Cardinals to victory in a Grapefruit League contest with the complex neighbors the Miami Marlins on Monday afternoon.

The four-run inning, which included RBIs from Nolan Gorman, Juan Yepez, and Dylan Carlson broke a scoreless tie on the way to the Cardinals’ 5-0 win in front of an announced 4,941 at Roger Dean Stadium.

Thanks in large part to the performance of starting pitcher Jake Woodford, the Cardinals didn’t need more than the first run to come out on the winning side. Woodford set the tone with five shutout innings, and he maneuvered around traffic on the bases to keep the Marlins out of the scoring column.

Woodford, a right-hander who appeared in 27 games (one start) in the majors last season, tossed five scoreless innings and allowed five hits and one walk. He also struck out seven in an 82-pitch outing. He stranded five runners on base and did not give up an extra-base hit.

Last season, Woodford bounced back and forth between Triple-A and the majors. The Cardinals optioned him in the middle of May, recalled him later in the month and then optioned him back down at the end of the month. They recalled him in early June, optioned him a day later and then recalled him in late June. In early July, they again optioned him and recalled him a little more than a week into August.

Asked how he seemed not to carry frustration into his offseason, Woodford replied, “Yeah I could have been (frustrated), but that’s not going to get me anywhere. To me, it wasn’t really a choice. There was only one way forward. They wanted me to work on certain things, and I felt like I went home and worked on certain things. Getting frustrated doesn’t get you anywhere.”

Woodford enjoyed a substantial run of success in the minors that included three separate league all-star selections at three different levels. He planted his flag as a starter and made 20 starts or more in each of his first four season in the minors. He pitched on a pair of staffs that helped their teams win league championships in the minors at Triple-A and Single-A. He debuted in the majors as a starter in 2020.

At the big-league level, he has been used in various roles including as a relief pitcher. He seems the likely candidate to be the long relief/swing man for the Cardinals this season.

“I think mindset-wise a lot has changed,” Woodford said of the past two years. “I’m a little more aggressive early in counts, which I think has benefited me some. But I think it’s just focusing on what I can control and focusing on what I can do to get better each and every day. It sounds a little redundant, but it really is my main focus driving to the field every day.”

Adjustments to his slider have been one of the biggest changes that have jumped out this spring, and Woodford has described it as a “different pitch than I’d thrown in my career coming up through the system.”

It’s not clear whether or not Woodford will get another start before the end of camp, but Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol has repeatedly praised Woodford’s work last year, into this offseason and the way that has translated into his spring training performance.

“He continues to get better and better, and that’s a pretty impressive outing” Marmol said following Monday’s game. “Obviously, we do have some tough decisions. But that right there is exactly what we wanted to see today. I mean, just pounding the zone with the fastball and sinker. He was on the edges, throwing it wherever he wanted to. The slider had really good shape to it.”

With Woodford holding down the Marlins’ offense and the bullpen following suit, the Cardinals took advantage of miscues in the sixth inning.

Tommy Edman drew a leadoff walk, then Walker’s bouncer led to Marlins infielder Jean Segura throwing wildly into right field as he attempted to start a double play. Edman scored on the play, and Walker advanced to second.

After Willson Contreras walked and Walker stole third, Gorman lined an RBI single into left field off of Marlins left-hander Steven Okert. Yepez followed with a sacrifice fly that brought in Contreras. Then Carlson hit an RBI single over the infield, which was playing in, and Gorman scored on that hit.

The Cardinals added a run in the seventh when Juniel Querecuto scored on a wild pitch.