MILWAUKEE (AP) -- Jason Bere appears to be over his spring-training struggles.

Bere allowed three hits and struck out nine in seven innings to lead the Milwaukee Brewers to a 4-0 victory over the Florida Marlins on Thursday night.

	Bere

"To be honest with you, I did feel good in spring training," Bere (2-0) said. "I know the results, statistic-wise, they weren't very good. You hate to say it is just spring training, because especially for myself I came into spring to win a job in the rotation. I tried to show that I was capable to go out there every fifth day and to win games for the team."

Brewers manager Davey Lopes has noticed a marked difference from Bere's performance in spring training.

"Everything's different," Lopes said. "The majority of his pitches are down. In spring training, everything was up. He didn't have command of his breaking ball and changeup. He has command of his breaking ball and changeup. He's locating his fastball. He's just the opposite of what he was in spring training."

"I don't care what he does in spring," Lopes said. "The bottom line is when the bell rang, he was ready. He's pitched two very good games."

Bere allowed two singles in the second inning, escaping a bases-loaded jam by striking out pitcher Brad Penny (1-1) to end the inning. Bere also allowed a third-inning single to Brant Brown.

"He pitched great," Florida manager John Boles said. "He had us off-stride all night. He had a slider, he spotted his fastball well and that ... split-fingered forkball. He just absolutely stuffed us."

In his first start, Bere allowed one run on five hits with eight strikeouts in six innings, a 9-1 victory over St. Louis.

Bere won 32 games for the White Sox from 1993-95 before suffering a career-threatening elbow injury in 1996. Last season, he was 3-0 with Cincinnati, but was released in August after returning from a rehab assignment and signed by the Brewers, going 2-0 in four starts.

David Weathers pitched a hitless eighth inning and Bob Wickman finished the four-hitter. This was Milwaukee's first shutout since July 30, 1999, against Montreal.

The Brewers took a 3-0 lead in the second against Penny. Geoff Jenkins led off with a single and Tyler Houston drew a one-out walk. Luis Lopez hit a two-run double off the glove of center-fielder Preston Wilson and scored on Bere's single to right.

Ron Belliard's opened the sixth with his first home run to make it 4-0.

Game notes
Belliard's home run extended his hitting streak to 10 games, matching his career high. ... The Brewers acquired minor-league catcher Pat Cline from the Cubs for a player to be named. Cline, who also can play the infield and outfield, was with Triple-A Iowa and will report to the Brewers' Double-A team at Huntsville. ... Luis Castillo's eighth-inning walk extended his league-high total to 14. Castillo was hitless in three at-bats, ending his hitting streak at seven games. ... Bere has won nine straight decisions dating back to Sept. 19, 1998. ... Belliard left after being hit by a pitch in the eighth inning. He suffered contusions to the back of his fingers on his left hand. ... Preston Wilson was hitless in three at-bats, snapping his eight-game hitting streak.