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| Wednesday, March 14 | |||||
| Ramirez takes himself out of game | |||||
| FORT MYERS, Fla. – The injuries keep piling up for the
Boston Red Sox.
Right fielder Manny Ramirez took himself out of Wednesday's 4-3
win over the Minnesota Twins in the middle of the third inning with
a mild left hamstring strain.
Ramirez appeared to pull up while chasing Matt Lawton's deep hit
to his left, which fell in for a double. Ramirez, who signed a $160
million, eight-year contract during the offseason, pulled the
hamstring last year and missed 44 games while playing for the
Cleveland Indians, but this injury is not in the same spot, the Red
Sox said.
Ramirez came out of the game after talking to center fielder
Carl Everett.
"He asked my opinion and I said, 'Take it in,"' Everett said.
"To avoid any seriousness I told him to leave the field. There's
no sense staying out there with a tweak."
Ramirez was not available for comment.
"I don't think it's severe," manager Jimy Williams said.
"It's good he didn't take a chance out there."
Ramirez, who is hitting .143 with one home run this spring, will
not play in Thursday's game against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays,
Williams said.
Ramirez got hurt the day after pitcher David Cone took himself
out of a game with soreness in his right shoulder. Pitcher Bret
Saberhagen is trying to come back from right shoulder surgery after
missing all of last season.
Two-time American League batting champion Nomar Garciaparra has
not played this spring with a split tendon in his right wrist.
Infielder Jon Valentin is trying to come back from a ruptured
tendon in his left knee. First baseman Jose Offerman is recovering
from a groin strain and third baseman Chris Stynes has a strained
left calf.
"It's kind of a mess right now," said second baseman Lou
Merloni, who hit a two-run homer run off of Saul Rivera in the
eighth.
Cone was
told Wednesday to take anti-inflammatory drugs for his sore right
shoulder.
The 38-year-old right-hander left after one inning of Boston's
10-7 loss to Minnesota on Tuesday complaining of soreness in his
pitching shoulder.
Cone said Tuesday he did not think the injury was serious.
"He is a little less tender and has good strength in the
shoulder," Dr. Bill Morgan said. "He has some local tenderness
suggesting continued inflammation."
David Wells pitches two scoreless innings TUCSON, Ariz. – David Wells pitched two scoreless innings in his second spring game, but the Seattle Mariners pounded reliever Rocky Biddle for nine runs in the seventh and won 12-6 Wednesday. Wells, who gave up two unearned runs in two innings on Saturday against San Francisco, came on in relief of Cal Eldred in the fifth inning. After allowing a walk and a single to open the sixth, Wells he got Carlos Baerga to hit into a double play and Charles Gipson to ground out. Wells threw 21 of his 36 pitches for strikes in two innings, allowing three hits and one walk. With the White Sox leading 6-2 in the seventh inning, Anthony Saunders hit a grand slam off Biddle to highlight the big inning. Tom Lampkin added an RBI triple. Biddle gave up nine runs and eight hits in one-third of an inning. The Mariners had seven straight hits at one point and finished with 20. The White Sox pounded Seattle starting pitcher Jamie Moyer for six runs and 10 hits in four innings. Harold Baines and Sandy Alomar connected on back-to-back homers in the third. Baines hit a three-run homer and Alomar followed with a solo shot to make it 6-0. Bret Boone hit a two-run homer for Seattle. Fryman out a week; Gonzalez misses game WINTER HAVEN, Fla. – Travis Fryman, coming off a career year at bat and in the field for the Cleveland Indians, will be sidelined at least a week with a sore right elbow. Fryman and outfielder Juan Gonzalez did not play Wednesday in a 6-4, 10-inning win over Atlanta. Gonzalez hurt his left knee while running in the outfield before the game. "I really don't think it's much of anything with Juan," manager Charlie Manuel said. "Right now, we don't think he'll be examined. He'll just rest it. "But Travis has me a little concerned." Fryman had an MRI examination Wednesday. "I really think all it needs is rest," Fryman said. "But we wanted to get the exam and then decide what has to be done. "Shoot, I've bounced four or five balls over to first. I don't do that many in a season. It's been hurting." The third baseman avoided the injury bug that felled many Cleveland players in 2000 -- when he set career highs with 106 RBI and a .321 average while winning his first gold glove. "Actually, I felt a few twinges late last season, but didn't think much of it," Fryman said. "When I piece everything together, that's when I think I did it." Fryman said he began using a weighted bat during workouts. That might have strained a ligament in his elbow. "I liked the way that exercise felt, so I incorporated it into my offseason conditioning," he said. "I took about 75 swings a day. It made me feel stronger." Mound injuries building up for Pirates BRADENTON, Fla. – The Pittsburgh Pirates' pitching problems grew worse Wednesday as Francisco Cordova's elbow began hurting again and Kris Benson was scratched from his next start with elbow soreness. With 2½ weeks before opening day, three of the five projected Pirates starters are injured. Jason Schmidt, coming off rotator cuff surgery, has a cartilage injury and likely won't be ready by opening day. "It's not good to go in the trainers room and see all these guys," rookie manager Lloyd McClendon said. Cordova, limited to 17 starts before having right elbow surgery in August, had little movement or velocity on his pitches while giving up five runs in the first inning Wednesday of an 11-6 loss to Philadelphia. Afterward, Cordova complained of elbow pain and got a cortisone injection from a team doctor. He will have X-rays Thursday morning and, if the elbow doesn't respond in another week or so, probably will need another season-ending operation. "He didn't feel good," McClendon said. "I didn't see the finish on his pitches that I wanted to see. I suspected something was going on. He just wasn't sharp." Losing Cordova for a second successive season -- he made three trips to the disabled list last year before a bone spur was removed from his elbow in August -- would be a setback to the Pirates. They were convinced Cordova and Schmidt would return this season, so they didn't shop for another starter during the offseason. Benson's problem -- tenderness in his right elbow -- wasn't expected but isn't believed serious. He will skip his scheduled start Thursday against the Indians in Winter Haven, Fla., and expects to pitch Tuesday. Saberhagen waiting to pitch in game FORT MYERS, Fla. – Bret Saberhagen did not like where his rehabilitation was headed Wednesday. Saberhagen, who will be 37 next month and has said he will retire if his comeback does not pan out, did not play in the major leagues last year after having surgery on his right shoulder to repair a rotator cuff that was almost completely torn. He also missed the entire 1996 major league season following major reconstructive surgery on the shoulder. The two-time Cy Young Award winner has not thrown in a game this spring, but was hoping to next week. "I'm in uncharted waters and just have to hope there's not an iceberg out there," he said after throwing 45 pitches in batting practice Wednesday, 15 at a time, with about seven minutes of rest in between. "It felt a little tighter than normal," he said. "It wasn't as free and easy as it has been. I wouldn't call it a dead arm, but it's felt better out there. With all the surgeries I have had I don't know what normal is supposed to feel like." The right-hander said only time will tell if he can pitch again in five days. "Tomorrow will be a good day to see what it feels like when I do my light shoulder program and play some catch," he said. "As far as where we go from here, I really can't tell you." Yankees' Hernandez to resume throwing Saturday TAMPA, Fla. – New York Yankees pitcher Orlando Hernandez, who missed his scheduled start Wednesday night because of right forearm stiffness, is scheduled to resume throwing Saturday. "If he feels good, we'll figure him in the first part of the week," Yankees manager Joe Torre said. "He said he feels a lot better." Hernandez was pulled from his start last Friday against Tampa Bay after two scoreless innings. He might be able to pitch Monday against Detroit, which would be his next scheduled start date. Left fielder Shane Spencer (irritation underneath his right knee) will not resume taking batting practice until this weekend at the earliest. He did take part in pregame stretching and threw in the outfield. Utility infielder Clay Bellinger (knee irritation) could return Thursday. First base prospect Nick Johnson, who jammed his right shoulder diving for a grounder Monday, resumed throwing. Outfielder Henry Rodriguez has a welt on his shin after a fouling a ball off his leg Tuesday. Padres send Rivera, Karl packing PEORIA, Ariz. – Ruben Rivera, a sensational center fielder who struggled at the plate, was put on unconditional release waivers by the San Diego Padres on Wednesday. If Rivera clears waivers Friday, the Padres would owe $163,394 in termination pay from his $1 million salary. After Friday, the termination pay would have increased to $245,902 through the end of spring training, at which point the entire salary would have become guaranteed. The Padres also placed left-hander Scott Karl, one of seven pitchers competing for the No. 5 spot in the rotation, on unconditional release waivers. Karl, who had a $625,000 salary, would get $102,459 in termination pay if he clears waivers. Rivera was obtained from New York in the deal that sent the Yankees the negotiating rights to Hideki Irabu on May 30, 1997. He helped the Padres reach the World Series the next year, often spelling right fielder Tony Gwynn late in regular-season games, then starting two games in place of injured left fielder Greg Vaughn in the NL championship series against Atlanta. A spectacular fielder, Rivera batted just .201 in parts of four seasons with San Diego. He led the Padres in strikeouts the last two seasons, with 143 in 1999 and 137 in 2000.  Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories | ALSO SEE Spring report: Cone hurting, but Ramirez homers for Red Sox | ||||