Cardinals' Lohse puts clamps on Marlins

MIAMI -- The sellout crowd in the Miami Marlins' new ballpark cheered the introduction of their starters, who were accompanied by women dressed as Latin showgirls. There was another roar for Muhammad Ali, who delivered the first pitch.

Then Kyle Lohse and the World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals went to work, and the place grew quiet.

Lohse held Miami hitless until Jose Reyes singled leading off the seventh as the Cardinals won the first game in Marlins Park, 4-1, last night.

"Where's Carpenter?" Marlins manager Ozzie Guillen said with a laugh, referring to Cardinals ace Chris Carpenter, who is sidelined with weakness in his shoulder. "Lohse threw a tremendous game. He kept our hitters off balance."

The Marlins' new animated home-run sculpture never budged. It was the fourth inning before they even managed a baserunner, and by the time they scored in the eighth, they trailed 4-0. The crowd of 36,601 included newly retired Cardinals manager Tony La Russa.

He watched Lohse retire the first 10 batters before hitting Emilio Bonifacio with a pitch. The runner was erased when Hanley Ramirez grounded into a double play.

Lohse went 71/3 innings, allowing only two hits and one run.

"I took advantage of the park a little bit," Lohse said. "It's a good ballpark for a pitcher, obviously. It's pretty hard to get it out."

Reyes went 2-for-4 in his Marlins debut. Omar Infante scored the Marlins' run in the eighth on John Buck's double.