Los Angeles Dodgers: Kevin Brown pitched three pain-free innings, Mike Kinkade went 4-for-5 and Joe Thurston drove in four runs Monday night as the Dodgers beat the New York Mets 7-1 in a split-squad game.

	Brown

Brown gave up a run and four hits in his third spring appearance as he tries to come back from two injury-plagued seasons. Brown underwent elbow surgery in 2001 and had back surgery last June.

"I got some good work in," Brown said. "I had some guys on and had to work out of some different situations. That's part of spring training, working on different things you're going to go through."

Brown's improving health has become evident in the fact that he's throwing more often from the bullpen between starts. Brown had bullpen sessions Saturday and Sunday before taking the mound Monday.

"He threw some vicious pitches tonight," Dodgers manager Jim Tracy said. "He threw some pitches that would be tough to hit under any circumstances."

Kinkade hit three doubles, scored two runs and drove in two more as he increased his spring training average to .565 (13-for-23). Kinkade, trying to win a job as a utilityman, batted .380 in 37 games with Los Angeles last season. He can play first, third, left or right field, and catcher.

Philadelphia Phillies: Pitcher Brandon Duckworth was sent to Philadelphia on Monday for a precautionary MRI exam, one day after leaving his start with an inflamed right elbow and forearm.

Duckworth was to be examined Tuesday by team physician Dr. Michael Ciccotti.

"I'm feeling better," said Duckworth, projected as the Phillies' No. 5 starter.

Duckworth left his start Sunday after one inning with tightness in his arm. He was still sore Monday, but manager Larry Bowa was optimistic that the injury isn't serious.

"I'm not a doctor, but usually when a guy does something real serious, there's a burning sensation all the way down to your fingers," Bowa said. "Ducky said he didn't feel that at all. He did feel tight. We'll keep our fingers crossed and hope he's OK."

Phillies catcher Mike Lieberthal, who hasn't played since Feb. 27 because of an abdominal strain, accompanied Duckworth to Philadelphia for an exam.

"He's much-improved and just going to get checked out," Phillies spokesman Larry Shenk said.

Lieberthal hopes to return to the lineup Thursday or Friday.

That's not all of the Phillies' injury problems, though.

Shortstop Jimmy Rollins missed his second consecutive game Monday with a strained left hamstring and isn't expected to return for two or three days. Reserve first baseman Tyler Houston has elbow tendinitis in his throwing arm.

If Duckworth isn't ready to begin the regular season, the Phillies figure to fill the spot in their rotation with Joe Roa or Hector Mercado.

Boston Red Sox: Pedro Martinez made his second strong start of spring training, settling down after allowing a first-inning run as the Cincinnati Reds beat the Red Sox 5-2 in a split-squad game.

Martinez allowed a run on three hits and struck out four over three innings. Of his 54 pitches, 37 were strikes.

"I felt pretty good out there, very comfortable," he said. "My arm responded well."

The Reds scored their only run off Martinez when Ken Griffey Jr. doubled off the right-field wall and came around to score on an RBI single by Sean Casey. Martinez bounced back to strike out Griffey in the third.

"I made a mistake in the first inning and he got it," Martinez said. "The second time I got him. That's the way it's going to be when you face good hitters."

Boston's Nomar Garciaparra went 2-for-3 with an RBI single. Manny Ramirez drove in a run with a sacrifice fly and made a leaping catch over the wall in left-center to save a two-run homer in the sixth.

Robert Person, recovering from arm surgery, made his first appearance for the Red Sox, retiring the side in order in the fourth. Person is to start Thursday in a split-squad game against the Yankees in Tampa.

Chicago Cubs: Kerry Wood had his best outing of the spring and Mark Bellhorn hit a two-run homer as the Cubs tied the Oakland Athletics 2-2 Monday night.

The teams agreed to end the game after nine innings.

Wood pitched five shutout innings in his longest outing this spring, giving up three hits. He walked three and struck out six, throwing 74 pitches.

Bellhorn gave the Cubs a 2-0 lead in the second inning. Moises Alou led off with a single and, after Hee Seop Choi and Corey Patterson struck out, Bellhorn lifted a 2-2 pitch from Oakland starter Ted Lilly over the left-field wall for his first home run of the spring.

Lilly worked four innings, allowing three hits and two runs. He struck out three and did not walk a batter.

Colorado Rockies: It was a shaky spring debut March 5 for the 2002 National League Rookie of the Year. But Jason Jennings' second performance brought good reviews.

Jennings, Colorado's projected No. 2 starter, pitched four innings, and allowed one hit and one earned run in Colorado's 7-4 loss to the Chicago White Sox Monday.

In his first outing, Jennings pitched two innings and gave up four earned runs on six to Kansas City in Surprise, Ariz.

Jennings said his success Monday was due in part because of his rhythm.

"I looked at a lot of film yesterday and compared one game last year against the Padres late in the season and then my start in Surprise, and my mechanics were basically identical,'' Jennings said. "So I came to the conclusion that it was just something that hadn't clicked yet. Today in the bullpen I started slowing down a bit and relaxing, and I wouldn't say it was a big relief, but it felt good."

Jennings was largely able to stay ahead in the count against Chicago and mixed in all of his pitches, including his slider, four-seamer and sinker, which Chicago's Frank Thomas hit for a solo home run.

Jennings said he felt better on the mound almost immediately after his first start.

"I had a couple good bullpen sessions after my last start and just got back to the basics and slowed myself down," Jennings said. "(I) just really let my arm work and took my body out of it."

Montreal Expos: Vladimir Guerrero was ejected in the first inning Monday for starting a bench-clearing brawl during the Expos' 7-4 win against the Florida Marlins.

Brad Penny's second pitch to Guerrero hit the Montreal slugger high in the chest.

Guerrero, still holding his bat in his left hand, said a few words to Penny as catcher Matt Treanor tried to restrain the batter. After Penny got closer, Guerrero swung his right fist around the catcher at the pitcher, missing. Penny retaliated with punch that missed, and the benches emptied.

"I'm not trying to hit a guy in spring training, especially not in the first inning,'' Penny said. "I'm out trying to throw inside. The first pitch he didn't like, and he stared me down. Then, I barely touched his shirt. He came out. If I wanted to hit him, I would have thrown a two-seam fastball.

"When I face him (during the season), I'm not going to be afraid to throw inside,'' Penny said. "Nobody's that good that you can't pitch him inside."

Guerrero thought the first pitch was too high and tight.

"He first threw me up and in, very close,'' Guerrero said. ``It barely touched my shirt. It was the principle. I felt it was intentional. I expect pitches inside, but I felt it was in the head area."

Expos manager Frank Robinson was surprised Guerrero rushed the mound, but he understood why.

"After watching it last year, I think pitchers take their liberties," Robinson said. "The pitcher thinks, 'I'll go inside and if I hit him, I hit him. If he's hurt, he's out of the lineup, and we have a better chance of winning.'"

Seattle Mariners: Jeff Nelson wanted to end his career with Seattle. Now, he's not sure that's going to happen.

	Nelson

Nelson, the righthanded setup man in the Mariners' bullpen, hoped to sign a contract extension in Seattle during the winter. He's been told by the Mariners he'll have to wait until the end of the season for the team to decide.

Nelson admitted he was disappointed and upset when he was first told of the team's position.

"In the beginning, it seemed they wanted to get something done," he said. "Now you just wait. You just go out and pitch and concentrate on getting ready for the season."

And getting ready for free agency.

"It's my free agent year," Nelson said. "I'm going to go out and see what the market is and see what happens. Now instead of getting it done early, and they (the Mariners) would have had it done, now they have to compete with everybody else."

Nelson, 36, is coming off a season that was interrupted by surgery May 10 to remove bone chips from his right elbow. He was on the disabled list from May 8 to June 27, but rebounded strongly when he got back.

The 6-foot-8, 225-pounder, in the second year of his second stint with the Mariners, became the team's all-time leader in games pitched (337), overtaking Mike Jackson (335). He wants a new three-year contract and would like to stay in Seattle, but doesn't know if that can be worked out.

"Everything's open," Nelson said. "They're taking the same approach they took with Jamie (Moyer) and Dan Wilson and (John) Olerud, which is fine. They may still want me back. But we talked early and now it's done."

Sparks fly in Seattle-Arizona game
Reliever Arthur Rhodes was ejected, even though he never played in the game, after a bench-clearing shouting match between the Mariners and the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday.

The game ended in a 6-6 tie after 10 innings by mutual agreement of both teams.

The Diamondbacks' Miguel Batista hit Brett Boone in the left arm in the top of the sixth. Then in the bottom of the inning, Seattle's Jeff Nelson hit Luis Gonzalez in the back with the first pitch.

Both dugouts and bullpens emptied, but no punches were thrown, just a few shoves.

Both Boone and Gonzalez left the game for pinch-runners, but neither was injured.

First-year Seattle manager Bob Melvin said Rhodes, scheduled to pitch later in the game, was thrown out because of remarks an umpire said he made as he walked back to the bullpen.

Melvin didn't accuse Batista of purposely hitting Boone, but was concerned that one of his key players might be hurt and that Rhodes was thrown out.

"You never want to see a guy get hit," Melvin said, ``but it turned the intensity up and that was good for us because we had been playing a little flat."

Gonzalez didn't like the fact that there was retaliation in a spring training game.

"It's just a spring training game," Gonzalez said. "By no means are we trying to hit Boonie. He's one of their stars, one of the marquee guys on the team. All of us in here are big fans of his. He plays in the other league. I just thought it was stupid what he (Nelson) did."

The incident overshadowed another strong outing for Byung-Hyun Kim in his bid to earn a spot in Arizona's starting rotation. The former closer allowed no runs on two hits and struck out five in four innings. Kim also doubled in his only at-bat.

Chicago White Sox: Frank Thomas homered on his first day back from wisdom tooth surgery and Mark Buehrle pitched five scoreless innings to lead the White Sox over the Colorado Rockies 7-4 Monday.

Paul Konerko added a two-run homer for the White Sox. Buehrle, who went 19-12 with a 3.58 ERA last season, held the Rockies to two hits.

"Ninety percent of the cutters I had today were pretty good, and my sinker was working pretty good," Buehrle said. "Overall, I'd be happy to go into the season with what I had out there today."

Thomas hit a solo shot in the fourth off Jason Jennings, last season's NL Rookie of the Year. It was the only hit he allowed in four innings of work.

New York Mets: David Cone stepped into the batter's box and saw Todd Hundley crouching behind the plate.

"What are you trying to prove?'' Hundley razzed his old batterymate.

"Me? You still alive?'' Cone jibed back.

After Monday's exhibition against Los Angeles, Cone was still smiling. He cut through the middle of the Dodgers' lineup, setting down Shawn Green, Fred McGriff and Brian Jordan while pitching two perfect innings in the New York Mets' 2-1 win.

Trying to make a comeback at 40 after taking a year off, Cone has faced nine batters in spring training games and retired all of them.

"It was a good test,'' Cone said. "I'm definitely making some progress. Each step has been in the right direction.''

"As things have gone, I'm encouraged. I haven't pitched out of the stretch,'' he said. "But it's only three innings.''

The Mets invited their former ace to camp almost on a lark, to see whether he had anything left after going 9-7 for Boston in 2001.

New York Yankees: Reliever Steve Karsay, who hasn't pitched in a week because of right shoulder soreness, reported no problems Monday after throwing off flat ground for the second straight day.

Karsay will likely work off a bullpen mound sometime in the next couple days and could pitch in game by Sunday.

"Everything went well," Karsay said after his 12-minute session. "I threw a little bit harder. I didn't feel a thing."

Karsay had back surgery last November and the team doesn't know whether he'll be ready by the March 31 opener.

Second baseman Alfonso Soriano was scheduled to be back in Tampa late Monday. He returned home to the Dominican Republic late last week following the death of his grandfather.