FORT MYERS, Fla. -- It's good that Sunday's Cardinals-Twins game was televised in St. Louis. If fans back at home had just seen Chris Carpenter's line, without seeing him pitch, it might have caused a small panic.

Anyone who did see Carpenter pitch, however, knows that he was better than the box score would indicate. The right-hander was charged with four runs on seven hits in 4 2/3 innings, striking out seven against two walks. But of the seven hits, perhaps three or four were really well struck. An infield hit opened the three-run second inning, and without that, the entire inning and game might have looked different. Carpenter wasn't happy, and neither was his manager, but the final line is at least somewhat deceptive.

"It was obviously up and down," Carpenter said. "My command wasn't as good as I would have liked. It was nice to have to go out and work a little bit, to work through some situations and try to execute when I had to execute pitches. As long as I'm healthy and I keep getting my pitch count up, my stuff is there."

Both Carpenter and La Russa pointed to the free passes Carpenter issued, more than the base hits. They were his fifth and sixth walks of the spring in 23 2/3 innings, a pretty typical Carpenter rate, overall.

"Walking those two guys -- I'm not a fan of walks," Carpenter said. "I can't walk Mike Redmond, and I can't walk [Brendan Harris]."

Even so, he could have escaped after each walk. Carlos Gomez's two-out double turned a one-run second into a three-run outburst. It was a leadoff walk to Harris that started the fifth inning rolling.

"The big hit Gomez had, that wasn't a bleeder," La Russa said. "But I think [Carpenter] pitched well, got his work in."

Among the other base hits were a Delmon Young double down the line that was far from crushed, a bloop single and a roller up the middle. It's not that Carpenter was great; it's just that on another day, some of those balls find defenders. On Sunday, they didn't.

"The one inning where they scored three runs, a leadoff little dribbler, infield hit, and I ended up walking that one guy," Carpenter said. "The one that obviously cost me was the first-pitch cutter to Gomez, which wasn't a terrible pitch but wasn't a great pitch, and he hit it in the gap. The ball that Young hit down the line was inside. It was a good pitch."

So he'll try to refine it in his remaining exhibition start. Carpenter's Florida swing is over. His next appearance will come on Friday night against the Cardinals' Triple-A Memphis affiliate at AutoZone Park in Memphis. It will feel much more like a regular-season dress rehearsal, played under the lights with attendance expected to be quite a bit higher than the typical Spring Training crowd.

All told, Carpenter accomplished what he wanted to in Grapefruit League play. He made all of his starts on time, felt good every time and pitched well for the most part. He posted a 1.52 ERA in six starts, striking out 17 against six walks and not allowing a home run in 23 2/3 innings. His command may have deserted him a bit on Sunday, but his stuff kept getting better all spring.

"I didn't know what was going to happen when I got on the mound and when I started stressing my arm," he said. "Obviously, I'm not happy with the results today, but I'm happy with what went on this spring. I wanted to get out of this spring healthy and on the team, and being able to pitch. It was positive, no question about it. Now, we get one more in and get ready to go."