"I don't worry about Detroit fans," said Peralta. "I know Detroit fans are really good fans. In my mind, I know something good is going to happen.

"When I went to home plate, it felt pretty good to hear all the fans."

Peralta said there was no special incentive, though. "It's not because I came here that I tried to hit the ball like that," he said. "I try to hit the ball everywhere I go. But I felt really good today."

Rather than trying for home runs, he merely wanted to work on his swing, Peralta said. "They're waiting for offense at shortstop," he said of the Cardinals.

Peralta lobbied his manager and coaches for a third at-bat. "But they said, 'That's good for today,''' he said, laughing.

Cardinals righthander Joe Kelly walked two and was touched for run-scoring singles by Victor Martinez and Austin Jackson in the bottom of the first. But Kelly got two outs without incident in the second before coming out of the game near his pitch limit of 40.

Boone Whiting was touched for five runs in the third inning and the Cardinals didn't catch up again as they dropped to 1-3 in the Grapefruit League.