The St. Louis Cardinals likely won't allow themselves to exhale until David Freese has played 140 games as their starting third baseman in 2011, but he passed a major milestone in his return from surgery on both ankles Monday afternoon, starting at third and picking up two hits in the St. Louis Cardinals' 10-4 win over the Minnesota Twins. 

A number of Freese's potential replacements at third also played well, offering some consolation for the team in the event of Freese's continued injury problems. Matt Carpenter, who hit .316/.412/.487 in his 105 game stint with the AA Springfield Cardinals last season, replaced Freese at third and went 2-2; Allen Craig, starting in right field with Lance Berkman still a DH, hit 2-4; and Daniel Descalso, a second baseman who spent some time at third in his first Major League cup of coffee, was 1-2 with a double in a late-innings appearance. 

Jake Westbrook was much-improved in his second start of Spring Training, throwing 3.2 innings while allowing one run and no walks.