JUPITER, Fla. (AP) -Brad Penny's debut in a St. Louis Cardinals uniform was rocky, yet he was pleased with his first outing of the spring.

Penny pitched two innings, allowing three runs and six hits in the Cardinals' 7-3 loss to a New York Mets' split squad Friday. Three of those hits were soft flyballs that landed just beyond the infield.

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``I worked on some stuff today,' Penny said. ``I probably threw more sinkers in the first inning than I have in a game in probably my career. I'm just trying to work on a sinker and get command of it.'

Matt Holliday doubled and walked twice in his spring debut for the Cardinals since signing a seven-year, $120 million contract this offseason.

The Mets snapped a 3-all tie in the seventh and scored three in the ninth. Designated hitter Shawn Riggans drove in the go ahead run with a single and Frank Catalanotto's pinch-hit triple in the ninth scored two runs.

The Cardinals, though, were 2 for 14 with runners in scoring position.

``If you want to win you've got to execute better than we executed offensively,' Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said.

Penny, who signed a one-year, $7.5 million contract to join his favorite childhood team, threw 46 pitches, 29 in the first inning.

``I thought he threw the ball well and had a good day's work,' La Russa said.

Penny threw for a short time in the bullpen after his outing to correct a mechanical flaw.

``I was flying open a little bit on the off-speed stuff,' Penny said. ``I didn't throw hard (in the bullpen). I just wanted to get the feel of staying closed.'

Penny fell behind often when he threw his sinker but he stuck with it hoping to find his command.

``I'm out there trying to work on so many different things that sometimes I lose focus when I should just work on command,' Penny said. ``That's the most important thing but you're thinking, 'OK, I've got to get the right spin on a curveball, I've got to get the splitter down.' You end up making bad pitches.'

Penny said he's healthy for the first time in several springs. He won 16 games in 2006 and 2007 with the Dodgers before an injured shoulder limited his 2008 season in which he was 6-9 with a 6.27 ERA.

He was 7-8 with a 5.61 ERA in Boston last year before being released. He finished the season with the Giants where he was 4-1 with a 2.59 ERA.

``Last spring I was set back a little bit and two springs ago I was hurting every time I threw a pitch,' Penny said. ``This is definitely nice.'