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| Thursday, February 27 Soriano sidelined with sore shoulder Associated Press |
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Soriano took batting practice and said he would be out two or three days. "No big problem,'' he said. "Just sore.'' Soriano was not scheduled to play in Friday's game against Philadelphia in Clearwater, Fla. Cashman said talks with Soriano's agent, Don Nomura, about a one-year contract have ended. The team can renew Soriano's contract starting on March 2. The infielder made $630,000 last season. "They know my position, I know their position,'' Cashman said. "March 2 is quickly approaching.'' Designated hitter-first baseman Nick Johnson underwent additional tests on his sore left wrist and planned to see hand specialist Dr. Joseph Sherrill on Friday in Birmingham, Ala. "We're doing every thing we can to get a handle on it and get this healed as quick as possible,'' Cashman said. One potential treatment could be a cortisone shot. Johnson can take grounders and throw, but fells discomfort when he swings a bat.
Johnson, coming off his fourth straight NL Cy Young Award-winning season and fifth of his career, faced nine batters. He struck out two, walked one and threw 28 pitches, 18 of them strikes.
"It was a step in the right direction,'' Johnson said. "It felt pretty good, and for the most part I'm pleased. Next time out we'll build up my pitch count. It's a matter of just getting my arm strength up and getting in the swing of things.''
Johnson worked out of a jam in the first after Jay Payton walked and Larry Walker reached on second baseman Junior Spivey's fielding error with one out.
Johnson struck out Preston Wilson and retired Todd Helton on a groundout.
X-rays on Seanez were negative. The pitcher said he was feeling OK before going to the hospital.
Seanez was covering first base when struck by shortstop Drew Meyer's throw in the sixth inning.
Texas manager Buck Showalter said Seanez apparently never saw the ball, losing sight of it while looking back toward white signs on the left-field wall and scoreboard at the new stadium the Rangers and Royals share.
"He never saw it. It was head high, obviously, and pretty ugly,'' Showalter said. A-Rod homers against Longhorns: Alex Rodriguez provided a couple of distinct memories for University of Texas pitchers J.P Howell and Kevin Frizzell.
Rodriguez took a called third strike from Howell, then hit a 506-foot homer off Frizzell as a Texas Rangers split squad beat the Longhorns 17-1 Thursday.
Those were the only at-bats for Rodriguez in the game against the defending NCAA champion and alma mater of Rangers owner Tom Hicks.
Jason Hart, Mark Teixeira and Laynce Nix, three of the Rangers' top prospects, also homered as Texas scored 10 runs in the last two innings.
The Orioles wore No. 51 patches on their sleeves to honor former pitcher Steve Bechler, who died Feb. 17 of heatstroke following a workout.
The Marlins drew 2,219 fans in their new spring home, Roger Dean Stadium, and scored three runs in the ninth off Rafael Pina for the victory. Florida starter A.J. Burnett allowed two hits in two scoreless innings.
Tony Batista went 2-for-2 for the Orioles with a double and a triple.
Rodriguez, who signed a $10 million, one-year deal with Florida in January, hit a sacrifice fly in the first to score Luis Castillo. Another Marlins newcomer, Juan Pierre, had a double and a bunt single.
The third overall pick in the 2001 draft tweaked his right knee during a spring training sliding drill Wednesday, but tests determined the injury is not serious.
"That's good news,'' manager Lou Piniella said. "We're going to hold him back a couple of days. I would say that by no later than Monday we'll get him going.''
Brazelton, competing for a spot in the starting rotation this spring, was hurt when he caught his foot on a sliding pad. The 22-year-old right-hander was concerned because he had reconstructive surgery on the same knee for a football injury in 1995.
"He has a little soreness behind the knee, but nothing at all structurally wrong,'' general manager Chuck LaMar said. Brazelton had been scheduled to pitch two innings in an intrasquad game on Thursday.
Wigginton hit an RBI single in the first inning and a solo homer in the third as the Mets opened the exhibition season Thursday with a 6-3 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals.
"It definitely feels good to get off to a start in spring training but it's game one,'' Wigginton said. "Spring training is still another month, so I guess it doesn't mean all that much.'' Following the departure of Edgardo Alfonzo and New York's failure to sign a starting third baseman, Wigginton became the leading contender to win the job.
Wigginton was happier with the single than the homer.
"That was the one that really counted, the guy was in scoring position and that's where you really want to come through,'' Wigginton said.
Boston had the bases loaded with one out in the ninth, but Jeff Smith grounded into a double play against Beau Kemp. Derek Lowe started for Boston and allowed a single in two innings. He retired three batters on groundouts and three on strikeouts.
The rotations for both teams are set, with Lowe in the No. 2 spot for Boston. Lohse, who got the win after allowing two hits and striking out one, is in the fifth slot for Minnesota. "It's a good feeling for me'' to know the rotation is set, said Lohse, who was 13-8 with a 4.23 ERA for the Twins in his first full season last year. "Obviously, I want to get my work done and set the tone right.''
The Tigers lost the exhibition opener in their first game under new manager Alan Trammell.
Trammell said he wouldn't collect any souvenirs from the game, though he does plan to keep the lineup card from the regular-season opener March 31 against the Minnesota Twins.
"This is just a footnote,'' Trammell said. "A month from now, nobody will be talking about my first spring training game. When the season starts, it will be a little different.''
Craig Monroe, trying to win a roster spot in the Tigers' outfield, gave Detroit a 5-4 lead with a two-run homer in the ninth off Calvin Maduro.
It was a dual debut for managers Ken Macha of the Athletics and Ned Yost of the Brewers.
Macha was promoted from bench coach in Oakland after Art Howe went to the New York Mets. Macha turned down the Brewers' job, which went to Yost, who spent 11 seasons on Bobby Cox's staff in Atlanta.
AL Cy Young winner Barry Zito started for Oakland and pitched three innings. He gave up two hits, including a solo homer by Robert Machado.
The game was called in the fourth inning even as the sun broke through the clouds, prompting some fans to wander back to their seats. The Braves didn't want to risk anyone getting hurt on the wet field.
After falling behind 3-0 in the first inning, the Braves tied it in their half with a two-out rally. Gary Sheffield was hit by a pitch, then Chipper Jones hit an opposite-field homer to left-center off Kyle Schmidt.
Andruw Jones followed with a drive over the left-field wall to make it 3-3.
The Yellow Jackets scored three runs off Adam Wainwright, who originally signed with Georgia Tech but decided to skip college after the Braves picked him in the first round of the 2000 draft.
"I gave up the runs and that wasn't what I was looking for,'' said Meche, bidding to return to the majors after a three-year absence. "But the sharpness of my offspeed pitches, I thought was tremendous.''
Bob Melvin managed his first game for the Mariners, who used RBI doubles from Pat Borders and Julio Mosquera to take a 6-4 lead with a four-run seventh inning.
Meche broke into the majors in 1999 and started 2000 with the Mariners, but was slowed by a rotator cuff injury that eventually required surgery. He missed the 2001 season and has been working back.
Challenging to become Seattle's fifth starter this season, Meche was tested in the second. The Padres loaded the bases with one-out singles by Bubba Trammell, Sean Burroughs and Mark Loretta. Nevin makes debut in left field: Phil Nevin's 2003 debut as a left fielder Thursday was uneventful.
If Nevin goes unnoticed defensively during the regular season, the San Diego Padres will consider his switch from third base a success. But during spring training, Nevin would prefer more action.
He played only three innings and had only one ball hit his way Thursday in the Padres' exhibition loss to the Mariners. Nevin handled the short, routine fly off the bat of Ben Davis to end the top of the second inning.
"I caught it,'' Nevin said with a smile. "That's a start.''
Nevin has only 54 games of big-league experience in left field, and he last played the position on June 5, 1999.
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