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HARANG PUTS PAST BEHIND (7:08 p.m. ET)
Aaron Harang took another step in getting beyond his dismal 2008 season, pitching four scoreless innings Wednesday during the Cincinnati Reds' 8-2 victory over the Houston Astros.

Harang lost 17 games last season, by far the worst of his career, and slimmed down in the offseason. Cincinnati is counting on him to anchor a rotation that could be the team's strength this year.

Harang went 6-17 with a 4.78 ERA in 30 appearances last season. It was a huge decline for a pitcher who won 16 games each of the previous two seasons.

The Astros are 2-11-2 in spring training, including exhibitions against World Baseball Classic teams. Although the record is irrelevant, manager Cecil Cooper doesn't like the way his club is playing.

SCHUMAKER STRUGGLES AT 2B (7:05 p.m. ET)
Converted outfielder Skip Schumaker committed his fourth error of the spring at second base on Wednesday. St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa is sticking with the experiment for now, although he said Schumaker would be the designated hitter Thursday against Boston.

Schumaker is batting .333 in 30 at-bats after an 8-4 victory over the Florida Marlins, while getting a lot of playing time to familiarize himself with the new position. Moving to DH for a day offers Schumaker a chance to rest his legs a bit.

Schumaker batted .302 as the Cardinals' leadoff man last season while playing right field and center field. He found out not long before spring training that the team wanted him to try second base to ease a glut in the outfield.

MANNY TO GET BOBBLEHEAD (6:51 p.m. ET)
Manny Ramirez is getting his own bobblehead this season.

The slugger who recently agreed to a $45 million, two-year deal to stay with the Los Angeles Dodgers will be commemorated with a dreadlocked version of himself. The first 50,000 fans in attendance will receive the doll July 22 against Cincinnati.

Third baseman Casey Blake will have his bobblehead giveaway on May 20 against the New York Mets. A third bobblehead night is scheduled for Aug. 19 against St. Louis, with the player to be named later.

SABATHIA, VERLANDER STRUGGLE (6:18 p.m. ET)
CC Sabathia allowed too many hits. Justin Verlander walked too many batters.

Despite struggling in the Detroit Tigers' 7-4 win over the New York Yankees on Wednesday, both pitchers were not overly concerned.

"I felt like I was throwing the ball pretty sound," Sabathia said. "But they put the bat on the ball. It kind of snowballed."

All five runs off him came in the second, when Gary Sheffield hit the first of his two home runs.

"That was a big inning," Sabathia said. "I couldn't get out of the second inning. I'll get out and continue to keep working. I need to command both halves of the plate better."

He allowed five runs and six hits in 1 2/3 innings and took the loss.

"He never seemed to find his rhythm today," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said.

Verlander, the winner, gave up four runs -- two earned -- three hits and four walks in two innings. In the second, he walked three straight hitters.

"Obviously, I was erratic, but I wasn't missing by much," Verlander said. "The ball was jumping out of my hand better than it has in a long time."

Verlander said that while watching video of himself recently, he noticed his front foot was too stiff. He tried to keep his knee bent Wednesday when finishing his delivery.

"I'm not worried about him," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said.

MARLINS' AMEZAGA HURT (6:16 p.m. ET)
Florida Marlins utility player Alfredo Amezaga will be out four to six weeks because of a sprained left knee.

The Marlins don't know how Amezaga sustained the injury. He complained of knee stiffness after playing nine innings Sunday for Mexico in the World Baseball Classic.

Amezaga returned to South Florida, and the injury was diagnosed Wednesday in Miami by Dr. Lee Kaplan.

Amezaga, who signed a $1.3 million contract in January, is the team's most versatile player. He played 79 games in center field last year, 19 at shortstop, 15 at third base and 10 at second.

He'll wear a protective cast for two weeks before resuming activity.

WHITE SOX PITCHERS IMPROVE (5:06 p.m. ET)
The White Sox are thrilled about the progress made by two of their rehabbing pitchers, Jose Contreras and Bartolo Colon. Contreras is in terrific shape having lost nearly 30 pounds.

"I saw him throw," White Sox reliever Octavio Dotel said. "Wow. Wow."

If Colon and Contreras are healthy and ready to go by mid-April, the White Sox will have the best pitching in the AL Central. Colon is the wild card, but he trusts the White Sox staff, and they trust him. When he says he's going to be ready, the White Sox believe him.

The Sox have position battles going at second base with Chris Getz and Jayson Nix, and in center field with Brian Anderson and Jerry Owens. Best guess for today is that Getz and Anderson win those jobs.

Josh Fields is the leader at third base over 19-year-old Cuban Dayan Viciedo. Fields can hit, and his defense is improving. Viciedo is ready to hit in the major leagues right now; his power is remarkable.

The young player to watch in camp has been shortstop Travis Beckham, the Sox's No. 1 pick in last year's draft. "He is so impressive, he is so polished," Jim Thome said. "He has great balance at the plate. And I mean this in the most positive way: He's just cocky enough to think that he belongs here."

Beckham likely will start the year at Double-A, but there has been talk of trying him at second or third base since the White Sox have their shortstop of the future in Alexei Ramirez, whose natural position is shortstop. He will have much more range than Orlando Cabrera, Chicago's primary shortstop last season.

White Sox reliever Bobby Jenks is throwing so well, he jokingly says that he's worried. "I'm not a spring training pitcher," he said. "I have five strikeouts in four innings. Last year, I think it took me 20 innings to get my first strikeout."

Thome recalled his trip with his father to the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown last summer. "It was one of the best days of my life," he said. "If I could freeze a day in time, that would be the day."

--ESPN's Tim Kurkjian

HALL ON THE MEND (5:06 p.m. ET)
The Brewers are encouraged that third baseman Bill Hall will be ready for Opening Day after suffering a partially torn calf muscle. He is expected to play in a game in the next few days.

Hall was injured doing conditioning drills on his own before the official start of spring training in the middle of February. He was expected to miss four to six weeks.

Hall batted .225 with 15 homers and 55 RBIs last season.

--ESPN's Tim Kurkjian

WELLS AGREES TO MINOR LEAGUE DEAL (4:43 p.m. ET)
Right-handed pitcher Kip Wells, who has been with six teams in 10 seasons, agreed to a nonguaranteed minor league contract with the Nationals.

Wells, 31, is 65-94 with a 4.67 ERA in 256 games (205 starts). He has pitched for the Chicago White Sox, Pittsburgh, Texas, St. Louis, Colorado and Kansas City.

MARLINS' VOLSTAD TAKEN OUT, JUST IN CASE (4:03 p.m. ET)
Pitcher Chris Volstad was taken out of Wednesday's spring training game against the Cardinals after absorbing a line drive off his thigh in the fifth inning.

Volstad walked off without effort after a liner by Joe Mather ended up in shallow right field for a single. It appeared to be a precautionary move given his replacement, Leo Nunez, had been warming up.

Volstad allowed two runs in four-plus innings in his third spring training start.

TIGERS PERSONNEL, INJURY UPDATE (3:17 p.m. ET)
Dane Sardinha was supposed to have been the Tigers' starting catcher Wednesday against the Yankees, but the team announced he "did not arrive at the ballpark due to a personal issue." Starting catcher Gerald Laird started in his place.

Outfielder Marcus Thames was unable to play because of an abdominal injury suffered in Tuesday's game against the Cardinals. He was examined by a doctor Wednesday morning, and the team was awaiting the results.

Manager Jim Leyland said Thames came up throwing after making a catch Tuesday and felt something in his abdomen. It was unclear how long he'll be out.

-- Jayson Stark, ESPN.com

ENCOURAGING OUTING FOR WOOD (3:12 p.m. ET)
Kerry Wood, the Indians' new closer, finally got to throw to someone not wearing a Cleveland uniform, and not just in front of the coaching staff's wary eyes.

Wood, who has been held back this spring because of soreness in his lower back, worked a scoreless inning with a strikeout in relief in the Indians' 8-4 loss to the Angels on Tuesday.

"It was nice to get a different uniform in the box," Wood said. "It always adds a new level of adrenaline."

According to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Wood was clocked between 91 mph and 94 mph.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.