ST. LOUIS -- Evidence was everywhere you looked that this was a different season for the Cardinals. And now, here's one more piece: the only Redbird to win a Silver Slugger in 2005 was a pitcher.

Jason Marquis was honored as the National League's best-hitting pitcher on Monday when he received his first Louisville Slugger Silver Slugger Award. MVP favorite Albert Pujols finished behind Derrek Lee in voting by coaches and managers. It was the sixth straight year that at least one Cardinal won a Silver Slugger, but the first time since 2001 that only one brought home the hardware.

Marquis enjoyed an historic season at the plate, batting .310 (27-for-87) with eight doubles, a triple and a home run, 10 runs scored and 10 RBIs. He had the highest base-hit total for a pitcher since Rick Rhoden piled up 28 in 1984. He led pitchers with 10 extra-base hits this year, the highest extra-base hit total by a pitcher since 1986, when Rhoden had 10.

The Cardinals even used Marquis at times as a pinch-hitter, and he succeeded at that role as well. Marquis went 3-for-9 coming off the bench.

"I go up to the plate thinking I can get a hit every time up," Marquis said during the season. "I'm not up there to make it easy for the pitcher to get me out. I see the ball pretty well out of the pitcher's hand, and I just try to put a good swing on it. I can't control where the ball goes after I hit it, finding holes. I just try to hit the ball hard and make something happen on the field."

2005 Silver Slugger Award winners
American League		National League
1B - Mark Teixeira, TEX 2B - Alfonso Soriano, TEX 3B - Alex Rodriguez, NYY SS - Miguel Tejada, BAL OF - Vladimir Guerrero, LAA OF - Manny Ramirez, BOS OF - Gary Sheffield, NYY C   - Jason Varitek, BOS DH - David Ortiz, BOS		1B - Derrek Lee, CHC 2B - Jeff Kent, LAD 3B - Morgan Ensberg, HOU SS - Felipe Lopez, CIN OF - Andruw Jones, ATL OF - Miguel Cabrera, FLA OF - Carlos Lee, MIL C   - Michael Barrett, CHC P   - Jason Marquis, STL
Complete 2005 coverage | All time winners >

Marquis tallied six multi-hit games, including a three-hit showing against the Astros on June 4. He finished the year with a .326 on-base percentage and .460 slugging percentage.

It's the first Silver Slugger for Marquis, and he's the second Cardinals pitcher to win the award -- the first since Bob Forsch in 1987. Forsch actually won three Silver Sluggers between 1980, when the award was created, and 1987.