VERO BEACH, Fla. (AP) _ Carlos Perez finally showed signs of turning his pitching around.

Trying to rebound from a horrendous season and coming off two awful spring outings, Perez pitched four solid innings Friday during the Los Angeles Dodgers' 4-2 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals.

Making his first appearance since being arrested last weekend and charged with drunken driving, Perez allowed three runs _ two earned _ and struck out five before being relieved by Orel Hershiser, who pitched four scoreless innings.

Perez blanked the Cardinals for three innings before allowing a two-run homer in the fourth to Ray Lankford.

``The first three innings, he looked really good,'' Dodgers manager Davey Johnson said. ``He got the ball up a little in the fourth. It was definitely an improvement.''

Perez, a 29-year-old left-hander, entered Friday's game with a 14.40 ERA this spring. He was 2-10 with a 7.43 ERA last year _ his first season after signing a $15.5 million, three-year contract, and spent the final two months in the minors.

``I know things are going to change during the year, for sure,'' he said. ``Just wait until April comes. I can't wait. I'm hungry.''

The 41-year-old Hershiser, competing with Perez for the fifth and final spot in the Dodgers' starting rotation, allowed three hits and struck out six.

Team officials entered the spring wanting to put Perez in the rotation and Hershiser in the bullpen.

``That's fine,'' Hershiser said. ``When you pay $5 million to someone, you want to get some production out of him. It helps everybody if Carlos pitches well. I hope he gets on a roll, develops some confidence and gets the organization more confident in him. It would be a boost to the club.''

Lankford and infielder Joe McEwing were the only regular St. Louis starters in the lineup. Mark McGwire planned to make the trip, but was a late scratch with a minor groin injury.

Dodgers left fielder Gary Sheffield cut his left pinkie finger when he was spiked while unsuccessfully trying to steal third. He received one stitch.

St. Louis starter Darryl Kile allowed two runs _ one earned _ in five innings as the Cardinals completed a sweep of their five spring training games against the Dodgers. Garrett Stephenson finished with four innings of one-hit relief.

Mark Grudzielanek, who doubled and tripled, scored both Los Angeles runs.