WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. • Left fielder Marcell Ozuna, who was chicken-winging his throws — short throws — in camp, was throwing at a much longer distance and with extension during a drill Friday before the Cardinals came here Friday for a night exhibition game.

“That looked great,” said Shildt as Ozuna popped into his office. “How did you feel?”

“Great,” Ozuna said. "No pain. Two more weeks, I’ll be better.”

Then pointing to his surgically repaired shoulder, Ozuna said, “I’ve been working hard to get this part strong.”

Ozuna served as the designated hitter against the Houston Astros here in a game that ended in a 4-4 tie and was nothing for three, making him nothing for nine this spring.

Starter John Gant pitched three strong innings for the Cardinals, allowing just one run, which wouldn’t have scored if the Cardinals had been able to turn a double play. Gant’s final out, his only strikeout, was a high-fastball whiff of Carlos Correa with a runner at third and two outs in the third. Gant threw a spring high of 53 pitches.

Shildt commended Gant for his changeup. “When he gets his breaking ball and his changeup going, those are two plus pitches for him,” said Shildt.

“He’s battling command with his fastball. I’m nit-picking a little bit. I liked Johnny a lot.”

Tyler O’Neill crushed a long home run, his second of the spring, to the left-center-field berm in the seventh. The homer was also O’Neill’s second hit in 12 at-bats.

Scott Hurst, a minor league import for the game, tied the score with a long homer to right in the eighth. “What a nice at-bat,” said Shildt. “It was loud, too.”

Ironically, Hurst, the Cardinals’ third-round choice out of California-Fullerton in the 2017 draft, in essence, was the Cardinals’ first pick that year because the first- and second-round choices had gone to Houston in the infamous hacking scandal. Hurst hit .295 at Class A Peoria and .354 at Class A Palm Beach last year with four homers in 63 Class A games.