On Wednesday, he entered the game in the top of the eighth with the score tied at 3 and faced four batters, surrendering only a double to Hunter Pence.

"I wanted to throw strikes," said the 31-year-old Reyes, who spent the last three seasons with the Minnesota Twins.

"It was the perfect situation, just like during the regular season in the eighth inning of a tie game. You have to go out there and throw strikes and I concentrated on that and on locating my pitches over the plate."

This game was a showcase for pitchers on both sides.

Houston's starter Russ Ortiz is competing for the fifth spot in the starting rotation and had a two-hit shutout going into the fourth inning before giving up back-to-back, two-out doubles to Ryan Ludwick and Khalil Greene.

Ortiz left after the fifth inning, having allowed one run on five hits with two walks and four strikeouts. His delivery and routine on the mound were hampered because of a stomach illness.

Ortiz threw 82 pitches - 47 for strikes - and was pleased with his location, especially against a lineup with Albert Pujols, who he struck out swinging, and Rick Ankiel.

"I wasn't throwing as hard as I probably would have if I felt normal, but it's not always about speed, it's about location," Ortiz said. "It made me feel good mentally looking up at the score after four innings because the mental part was the thing I felt like has been the last thing to come."

Astros catcher Ivan Rodriguez helped out Ortiz at the plate as well as behind it, hitting a solo shot to left in the top of the third inning for his second homer of the spring to give Houston a 2-0 lead.

Pence went 3-for-4 and Michael Bourn drove in the go-ahead run with an RBI single in the top of the ninth off Cardinals reliever Chris Perez, who was making his first appearance in two weeks after injuring his right shoulder.

The Cardinals offense struggled until minor leaguer Shane Robinson stroked a two-run single in the bottom of the seventh to tie it 3-all and set the stage for Reyes.

"It was a confidence builder, my first start as a Cardinal," Reyes said. "You always have a few butterflies with a new team and you want to do well in front of your teammates.

"I was pleasantly surprised with how good my command was," he said. "It doesn't take me very long to get ready for the season, so hopefully after the next outing I'll be 100 percent and ready to go.

Notes: Cardinals manager Tony La Russa left before the game started to fly to Richmond, Va., for the visitation for his mother-in-law, Mozelle Coker, who died Monday. He also will miss Thursday's game against the New York Mets. He will rejoin the team in Fort Myers on Friday for a game against the Boston Red Sox. ... Both teams entered the game with five-game winning streaks and St. Louis was hoping to tie its mark for most wins (17) in spring training since moving to Jupiter in 1998.