"Chris Carpenter, the Cardinals' No. 1 pitcher, was good enough Wednesday. At the same time, Albert Pujols, the Cardinals' No. 1 hitter, who smacked his first homer of the spring, was striving not to feel "too good."

Carpenter, making his first exhibition appearance since March 1 when he suffered a strained left hamstring, said he felt good (leg, arm) in throwing 57 pitches over four-plus innings in the Cardinals' 9-4 exhibition win over the Detroit Tigers.

Carpenter, who will be the opening day starter for the Cardinals on March 31 against San Diego, was charged with three runs on six hits as he worked into the fifth inning. Two of the runs came in the first when Carpenter fell behind All-Star Miguel Cabrera and the latter doubled to set up a two-run bloop single by Brennan Boesch.

Carpenter said one of his goals, besides building pitch count, etc., was "to get through the whole thing without hurting anything.

"I was happy with it," Carpenter said. "I felt my stuff got better as we went along. I felt more comfortable. I'm looking forward to the next time."

Carpenter allowed that his command could have been better but "it was my second time out. My arm strength is there."

Pitching coach Dave Duncan said Carpenter would be programmed to throw 70 to 75 pitches in his next start on Monday and then 80 or 85 when he makes his final exhibition start March 26.

Duncan didn't go overboard in his assessment of Carpenter, keeping in mind that Carpenter hadn't pitched in two weeks. "Under the circumstances, I thought he was good," he said.

Addressing his potential opening day start, Carpenter said, "I'm very comfortable. I'm right where I need to be. I'll be ready to go."

Before a couple of weeks ago, Carpenter said he never had hurt his hamstring, but he said, "My hamstring felt good. I obviously had to make some plays."

Carpenter bounced off the mound to field a slow roller to his right, he covered first a couple of times and he backed up the plate once, all instinctive tests for his leg, just as much as his throwing a pitch."