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| Saturday, March 24 | |||||
| Saberhagen pitches two scoreless innings | |||||
| FORT MYERS, Fla. – Bret Saberhagen pitched two scoreless
innings in his first outing against major league hitters since
1999, highlighting Boston's 6-1 win over the Minnesota Twins on
Saturday.
Saberhagen underwent reconstructive surgery on his right
shoulder after the 1999 season. He has pitched in the minors and
spent most of his time in rehabilitation after the operation.
Saberhagen allowed two hits and walked none, reaching 91 mph on
the radar gun.
Afterward, he said the outing was pain-free.
"It really couldn't have gone any better," he said.
The Red Sox hit four solo home runs and also turned a triple
play.
Boston took a 4-0 lead on home runs by Dante Bichette and Scott
Hatteberg, and RBI singles by Chris Stynes and Trot Nixon.
Stynes and Nixon hit consecutive home runs in the fourth.
Corey Koskie hit a home run for Minnesota.
The Red Sox made a triple play in the seventh. With Denny
Hocking on first and Jeff Smith on second, Cristian Guzman hit a
line drive to shortstop Lou Merloni.
Merloni knocked it down, but the runners thought he caught the
ball and stopped. Merloni tagged Hocking, then second base, and
threw to first.
Knoblauch goes 4-for-4 at bat, 0-for-0 in fly balls CLEARWATER, Fla. – Chuck Knoblauch's new position hasn't affected his hitting. Knoblauch went 4-for-4, but didn't get any fly balls in left field as the New York Yankees beat the Philadelphia Phillies 7-5 Saturday. "When we open the season, he's our left fielder," Yankees manager Joe Torre said, admitting for the first time Knoblauch's move is more than an experiment. "I think he's enjoying himself. For a club that's won the World Series the last couple years during his struggles, I don't think he enjoyed himself as much. He's such a force at the top of the lineup, it makes it tough for the pitcher to pitch through the order." Knoblauch scored a run and drove in one. Christian Parker (1-1) allowed four runs and seven hits in five innings – his worst start of the spring. Parker, the front-runner to be the Yankees' No. 5 starter, struck out three, walked three and hit one batter. The 25-year-old right-hander had allowed just two earned runs in 10 innings prior to the game. "Those are the kinds of situations that separate guys," Parker said about pitching out of trouble. "It's easy to pitch with nobody on base." D'Angelo Jimenez had two hits, including a two-run homer for the Yankees, who won for just the second time in 11 games. Robert Person (1-2), making his first start since March 12, allowed five runs and 11 hits in four innings. He struck out four and walked none. La Russa ejected in Cards' loss JUPITER, Fla. – St. Louis manager Tony La Russa was ejected for arguing a call on the bases in the second inning Saturday in the Cardinals' 9-0 loss to the New York Mets. La Russa was tossed by umpire Matt Hollowell, who said Cardinals second baseman Placido Polanco missed a swipe tag on Rey Ordonez. Bench coach Mark DeJohn ran the Cardinals the rest of the way. Al Leiter (3-0) pitched 6 2/3 innings of shutout ball for the Mets, allowing four singles and a walk, striking out five. He has not given up a run in 15 2/3 innings this spring. Benny Agbayani homered in the fourth. Chad Hutchinson pitched 3 2-3 innings in relief for the Cardinals. He allowed two runs on two hits and two walks, and struck out five. "I felt good, I just got tired at the end," Hutchinson said. "I have no complaints." The game the teams that met in last year's NL championship series drew 8,362, the largest crowd in the four-year history of spring training at Roger Dean Stadium. Chipper misses third straight game Atlanta Braves third baseman Chipper Jones missed his third straight exhibition game Saturday with a sprained left thumb. But Jones says he might play next week and would definitely be ready for the start of the season. He said his thumb was feeling better before Saturday's game against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Jones jammed his thumb a week ago swinging at a pitch from Houston's Octavio Dotel. Jones says he would play Monday at the earliest, but "more likely later in the week." But – he adds – that if it's still not completely healed by the season-opener on April 2 in Cincinnati, he would play. Manager Bobby Cox agreed that rest is the best solution. Henderson hitless in first spring appearance PEORIA, Ariz. – Rickey Henderson went hitless in two at-bats Saturday in his first spring exhibition appearance as the Milwaukee Brewers beat a San Diego Padres split squad 8-3. Henderson, trying to earn a roster spot at age 42, played only three innings and faced Brewers right-hander Jimmy Haynes each time up. He struck out looking at a 2-2 fastball in the first inning and grounded out on a 3-2 pitch in the third. "Being out there was a great feeling," Henderson said. "Everything went all right. I just need to get in there and get some time to adjust to different pitchers, different speeds, different breaking pitches." After agreeing to a minor league contract, Henderson had only five days of workouts before facing the Brewers. He has eight more days of exhibition play to convince the Padres he is fit to play. General manager Kevin Towers has suggested Henderson could begin the season in the Pacific Coast League at Triple-A Portland. "Anything's OK if you feel you aren't prepared or ready," Henderson said. "If you aren't prepared, then, yes, you have to get prepared. That's what I'm waiting to see, how well I can get back in the action." Big Unit strikes out eight TUCSON, Ariz. – Randy Johnson struck out eight in his final time facing major-league hitters this spring as the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the San Francisco Giants 10-3 Saturday. Jay Bell drove in four runs for Arizona and has nine hits in his past 15 at-bats, with two doubles and three homers. In seven innings, Johnson allowed three runs on seven hits and walked just one. Johnson's final spring-training outing is scheduled for Thursday in minor-league camp, since the Diamondbacks face the Dodgers in that night's exhibition game. Bell's third home run in his past four games, a two-run shot, keyed Arizona's four-run first inning against Mark Gardner. Greg Colbrunn, playing third base as Matt Williams rested a sore left foot, also homered in the inning. Bell added a two-run single in a four-run second inning. Johnson also went 2-for-3 with a double over the head of right fielder Armando Rios. Gardner, San Francisco's projected fifth starter, allowed 10 hits and eight runs (five earned) in his three innings and has an 8.66 ERA for the spring. Giants catcher Benito Santiago, signed Sunday, made his first defensive appearance of the spring. He was hit on the right knee by a Johnson slider in the fourth inning but stayed in the game. Santaigo tripled his first time up and also made a bad throw on a pitchout and stolen-base attempt. Sosa slugs eighth homer of spring MESA, Ariz. – Sammy Sosa hit his eighth home run of the spring, and the Chicago Cubs rallied for two runs in the bottom of the ninth inning Saturday to beat the Seattle Mariners 7-6. Gary Matthews Jr. singled with one out in the ninth and scored on Damon Buford's double. Robert Machado singled home the winning run with one out off Brian Fuentes. The Mariners lost their fifth straight game. Sosa hit a long, two-run drive over the left-field wall in the first off Brett Tomko. Chicago made it 4-0 in the second on Eric Young's two-run double. Ricky Gutierrez hit his first homer of the spring in the fourth. The Mariners scored twice against Cubs starter Kevin Tapani in the fifth. Ichiro Suzuki had an RBI groundout, and John Olerud drove in the other run with a single. Seattle scored four times in the sixth against minor league pitcher Jon Cannon. Bret Boone led off with a homer, Dan Wilson had an RBI triple and pinch-hitter Anthony Sanders had a two-run homer. Cubs closer Tom Gordon had his right arm examined by team physician Dr. Michael Schafer on Friday. On Saturday, the team said Gordon is suffering from a "triceps overload" injury. Gordon, who had reconstructive elbow surgery in December 1999, injured himself early last week while lifting weights. The elbow is fine, but Gordon experienced pain in the triceps muscle. If all goes well, he could be back on the mound by the middle of the week. Gordon has appeared in three games this spring, going 0-0 with a 6.00 ERA. A-Rod goes deep; Rogers has strong outing BRADENTON, Fla. – Alex Rodriguez went 3-for-3 with a home run and Kenny Rogers pitched 7 2/3 effective innings and singled in a run Saturday to lead the Texas Rangers to a 4-3 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates. Rogers (1-1) carried a shutout into the eighth inning before tiring and giving up two unearned runs. He allowed eight hits and no walks while striking out five. Todd Ritchie (0-1), picked as the Pirates' opening-day starter earlier in the day, allowed three runs on six hits in six innings. He walked two and struck out two. Rodriguez hit a solo home run, his fourth of the spring, in the first inning. Bill Haselman doubled in a run and scored on Ritchie's wild pitch in the fifth, and Rogers hit his RBI single in the seventh. Abraham Nunez singled in a run and scored on Ronny Paulino's double in the Pittsburgh eighth. John Wehner hit a run-scoring double with two outs in the ninth, but Chris Haney held on for his second save. Jason Kendall had two hits for the Pirates. Sabathia may make Indians' rotation WINTER HAVEN, Fla. – C.C. Sabathia, the 20-year-old phenom who may have won a spot in Cleveland's starting rotation this season, sure looked ready for the majors Saturday as the Indians beat the Houston Astros 5-2. Making his second start in an "A" game this spring, Sabathia allowed two runs and seven hits – six singles – in five innings. He also walked one, struck out six, broke a few Houston bats and made big pitches when he needed to. "When I came to camp I didn't even know if I could pitch at the big league level," said the left-hander. "But I feel like I can pitch in the major leagues now." The Indians have a week to decide if they should have Sabathia, who has never started in a regular-season game higher than Double-A, begin the season as their No. 4 starter or send him back to the minors. They could also use him as a spot starter or as a reliever. "I ain't saying," Indians manager Charlie Manuel said after watching Sabathia handle the Astros. "I don't want to give my hand away. I'm battling for C.C. He could definitely be in my rotation or as a No. 5 guy. "There's a lot of things we can do. C.C. has a chance to be a very special pitcher."  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