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Mahle allowed a single and an RBI double in the first, but that turned out to be the only score for the Astros all night. Mahle still hasn’t given up more than two runs in any start this season. The 40/18 K/BB in 55 innings isn’t nearly as impressive as his 1.47 ERA, and he probably will start giving up homers at some point. For now, though, it’s fine to enjoy the ride. He’ll face the White Sox next.

The 23-year-old slugger tagged Astros’ closer Bryan Abreu for a 422-foot (107.7 mph EV) solo shot in the fourth inning, pulling the Cardinals to within two runs at 4-2. He’s having an absolutely brutal time in Grapefruit League action, hitting .097 (3-for-31) with one homer and one RBI.

On the plus side, Leahy struck out five batters on the night while allowing one base on balls. He served up a solo homer to Christian Walker in the second inning, then the Astros piled on three additional runs in the fourth inning. Leahy got eight swings and misses on 74 pitches, posting a CSW of 34 percent. He now holds a 6.39 ERA, 1.18 WHIP and a 14/4 K/BB ratio across 12 2/3 innings. With so much competition for the final couple of spots in the Cardinals’ rotation, he may need to improve his next time out to secure his spot.

Walker opened the scoring in the ballgame, crushing a 336-foot (100.2 mph EV) solo shot off of Kyle Leahy to lead off the second inning. He also singled in the fourth inning and scored on an RBI knock by Taylor Trammell. Even with his two-hit attack, the 34-year-old slugger is hitting just .130 (3-for-23) on the spring, so perhaps this is just what he needs to get his bat going as we inch closer to Opening Day.

Teng walked two and struck out two on the night. The lone tally against him came on a sacrifice fly by Victor Scott II in his final frame. The 27-year-old hurler got five whiffs on 49 pitches in the ballgame, registering a strong CSW of 35 percent. He has looked sharp through his first four Grapefruit League outings, compiling a 3.12 ERA, 1.04 WHIP and a 6/6 K/BB ratio over 8 2/3 innings.

Baty smacked a double off of Zack Littell in the opening inning and raced around to score the game’s first run as Ronny Mauricio followed with a two-bagger of his own. That would be his only hit in three at-bats on the night. The 26-year-old is having a strong spring with the bat, hitting .389 (7-for-18) with one homer, five RBI and one stolen base.

Edwards struck out four batters on the evening. He fired 40 of his 61 pitches for strikes in the contest, generating eight swings and misses (five on his fastball) while posting a CSW of 21 percent. The 34-year-old right-hander has certainly opened some eyes this spring, registering a 2.08 ERA, 0.81 WHIP and an 11/4 K/BB ratio across 8 2/3 innings of work. While he’s not going to crack the Opening Day rotation, it sounds like he’ll open the season as extra starting pitching depth at the Triple-A level and should get an opportunity with the big league club at some point during the season.

The dynamic 25-year-old shortstop struck out against Carl Edwards Jr. to start the game. He then lined out to first and flied out to right before calling it a night. He’s hitting a woeful .154 (4-for-26) with zero homers, one RBI, one stolen base and an 8/5 K/BB ratio over his first 31 plate appearances on the spring.

The 30-year-old hurler struck out two batters on the day and didn’t issue a base on balls. The lone tally against him came on an RBI double off the bat of Ronny Mauricio in the opening inning while his two punchouts were courtesy of Carson Benge and Vidal Brujan. Littell needed just 39 pitches (28 strikes) to navigate three frames in this one. He still has time to make another couple of starts before his turn in the rotation in the regular season and it seems like he’ll be ready to go when his name is called.

They’ll face the winner of Venezuela versus Japan. Wells’ homer, which came as a pinch-hitter for Agustín Ramírez, was the lone one hit by the D.R. tonight, but Manny Machado and Junior Caminero both had two hits and an RBI. The club knocked out Hyun-Jin Ryu in the second and forced Korea to use five pitchers over the first three innings. After that, the score held steady at 7-0 for 3 1/2 innings until Wells ended things.

Sánchez had a couple of long breaks early on while the D.R. was scoring four runs in the second and three in the third, but it didn’t bother him at all. He generated whiffs on 18 of the 31 swings against him and wound up with a 48% CSW. Albert Abreu followed Sánchez and pitched scoreless sixth and seventh innings before the game was mercy ruled.