San Diego Padres: Jay Witasick nearly trashed his whole season. In a bizarre injury, the San Diego right-hander strained his pitching elbow while throwing out the garbage. He will miss at least a week.

	Witasick

"He was taking some bags of trash out,'' Padres manager Bruce Bochy said Friday. "They were heavy, had some watermelon in them, apparently. He tossed them into the dumpster and strained his elbow.

"I was thinking, 'It can't be.' Here's a guy who was just doing something normal, an everyday task. He's upset with himself for not using his left arm,'' he said.

The Padres were worried the injury could have been much worse. If he had stretched his elbow more severely, he could have required "Tommy John'' surgery that would have sidelined him for the year.

Instead, doctors gave an encouraging prognosis after an MRI exam. "He's got a little tendinitis,'' general manager Kevin Towers said, "seven-to-10 days.''

St. Louis Cardinals: Jason Isringhausen's first time pitching batting practice this spring gave the Cardinals hope he'll be ready for Opening Day.

The closer, recuperating from offseason shoulder surgery, was nearly unhittable Friday morning in a 21-pitch session. Working on one of the back fields at Roger Dean Stadium, he impressed manager Tony La Russa and pitching coach Dave Duncan.

Pitching to Todd Dunwoody and Kurt Abbott, he allowed only two fair balls and one foul.

"That stuff there wasn't an arm that just had surgery, was less than his best or holding back,'' La Russa said. "He's right on time.''

Isringhausen, who had surgery in October, expects to get in at least a few spring training games, then close at least some games early in the season.

Last year, Isringhausen had 32 saves in 38 chances and averaged a strikeout per inning.

"They'll have to watch using me on back-to-back days for a while, but if I can help them every other day, it ain't too bad,'' he said.

Arizona Diamondbacks: Chad Moeller and Alex Cintron both homered and the Diamondbacks overcame another home run by Barry Bonds to beat the San Francisco Giants 5-4 on Friday.

The Diamondbacks have won eight straight games and have never lost in 14 spring training meetings against the Giants.

"This is a good team,'' Moeller said. "We expect to be in competition at the end of the season for the World Series -- no ifs, ands or buts about it.''

Bonds hit a two-run homer off Miguel Batista in the fourth inning, his sixth of the spring.

Kirk Rueter allowed two runs on two hits in five innings for the Giants. He walked three and didn't have a strikeout.

Of Rueter's 15 outs, 14 were groundballs.

"That's kind of the way I pitch,'' said Rueter, a left-hander who tied for the team's most wins last season at 14. "A lot of groundballs. That's a good sign that my sinker is working.''

Bonds plans to return Sunday to the Bay area to be with his father, Bobby, who will undergo a chemotherapy treatment for lung cancer Monday.

New York Yankees: Jose Contreras allowed two hits over five scoreless innings as the Yankees beat the Tampa Bay Devil Rays 3-0 in a spilt-squad game Friday.

Contreras had struggled in his first three outings, giving up 15 runs in eight innings. Against the Devil Rays, he struck out three and walked one during his 58-pitch outing.

"He was more comfortable,'' Yankees manager Joe Torre said. "Today he was a pitcher. He was smooth.''

It was an eventful week for the Cuban right-hander.

Contreras's father, who had a stroke while recuperating from surgery for an intestinal obstruction, was released Thursday from a Cuban hospital.

Contreras worked extensively on mechanics with pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre and was informed he would be on the team to start the regular season.

"It brings me a lot of peace,'' Contreras said through an interpreter. "It gives me more energy to continue working and try to get the results I want to get.''

Weaver sharp again: Jeff Weaver pitched five scoreless innings in his latest stellar spring appearance, leading a split squad of Yankees to an 8-1 victory over the Atlanta Braves on Friday.

Atlanta right-hander Paul Byrd missed a second straight start because of a pulled groin muscle. Manager Bobby Cox said there is no definite timetable for getting Byrd back on the mound in a spring training game.

New York Mets: Luis Castillo and Robert Stratton homered as the Florida Marlins roughed up Al Leiter and beat the Mets 9-5 Friday.

Leiter was tagged for eight runs and nine hits in the first two innings. Pitching coach Verne Ruhle made a visit after Leiter allowed two men on base in the fourth with one out, but left him in to face Stratton one more time.

After striking out Stratton, Leiter was pulled.

"It's not about result, but you don't want to get out there and get racked around like that,'' Leiter said. "It just seemed I couldn't get comfortable and it was a scramble the whole time.''

Castillo led off the game with a double, Juan Pierre bunted for a single and Ivan Rodriguez followed with an RBI double. Castillo homered to lead off the second and Stratton hit a three-run shot.

The Mets took off after the game for Mexico City, where they'll play a pair of games against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Earlier this week, the teams got into a bench-clearing brawl after Guillermo Mota hit Mets star Mike Piazza with a pitch.

Los Angeles Dodgers: Kevin Brown pitched four scoreless innings but the Dodgers lost to the Cleveland Indians 9-4 Friday.

Brown has given up one earned run over 10 innings this spring after being limited to 10 starts last season because of elbow and back injuries.

"I was not as good as I have to be, but you just take what you can on a day like today,'' said Brown, who complained of working off a hard and slippery mound. "I can't see where there is a lot else I can expect at this point.''

Brown allowed four singles and one. He struck out three and did not walk a batter.

"For the first time since 2000, Kevin's feeling very comfortable in doing with the ball what he expects to do with it and creating the movement he wants to create,'' Dodgers manager Jim Tracy said.

Andy Ashby gave up seven runs -- six earned -- in two innings to take the loss for Los Angeles. He has surrendered 11 runs over 5 2/3 innings in three games.

Chicago Cubs: Carlos Zambrano pitched five scoreless innings to lead the Cubs to a 5-0 victory over the Oakland Athletics in a split-squad game Friday.

Alex Gonzalez hit a two-run homer in the first inning, and Moises Alou had a pair of doubles for Chicago.

Zambrano, 21, kept the Athletics off-balance much of the day with a good fastball and a sinker.

"Before the game, I saw that my sinker was good today,'' he said. "I said, 'Well, let's use it because that's my best pitch.' I like to throw it because the hitters don't like a good fastball on the hands. As soon as I saw that in the bullpen, I said, 'This is my game,' because I had good command of my sinker.''

Cubs manager Dusty Baker likes what he sees from Zambrano (1-1) so far.

"That's not bad for your No. 5 starter. That's pretty good,'' Baker said. "He showed enthusiasm. He wants to be good.''

Boston Red Sox: Kevin Millar and Doug Mirabelli each homered off Cincinnati reliever Kent Mercker as the Red Sox beat a Reds' split-squad 8-5 Friday.

Trot Nixon also homered leading off the bottom of the first, and Manny Ramirez and Nomar Garciaparra added two hits each for Boston.

Brandon Larson hit a solo home run and Kelly Stinnett added a three-run homer for the Reds.

Boston starter John Burkett gave up two runs in the second but otherwise looked strong, striking out four, including Ken Griffey Jr., in four innings. It was his first win of spring training.

"I went a little backward with my fastball, didn't really have the location I would like to have, but my breaking stuff's getting better and better every time,'' Burkett said. "I really liked my curveball, my slider was probably a lot better than at any time last year.''

Reds starter Jimmy Haynes gave up four runs in three innings and took the loss.

Toronto Blue Jays: Pete Walker pitched four effective innings and also singled and scored a run in the two-run fifth, helping the Blue Jays tie the Houston Astros 2-2 in 10 innings Friday.

Walker and Orlando Hudson hit consecutive singles and scored on Bruce Aven's double to right field off Astros starter Brian Moehler.

Houston got one run in the third on an error by first baseman Carlos Delgado that allowed Julio Lugo to score. Houston tied it in the seventh on a solo homer by non-roster invitee Alan Zinter.

Walker, who went 10-5 with last season, allowed one hit and one run. He said he's ready to start or relieve this year.

"Whatever role they choose, I feel like I can go back and forth and maybe that's made me a little more valuable,'' Walker said. "I don't mind coming out of the 'pen and also I can start. Overall that helps the club over a long season.''

Moehler, expecting to be Houston's No. 4 starter, allowed two runs and seven hits in five innings.

Tampa Bay Devil Rays: Nick Bierbrodt never doubted he would be able to pitch his way back into Tampa Bay's starting rotation.

The 24-year-old left-hander had another impressive outing in his bid to overcome control problems and a shooting that threatened his career last summer, working four scoreless innings Friday for a Devil Rays split squad that lost 3-2 to the Minnesota Twins.

Bierbrodt allowed two hits, walked two and struck out one. In three spring training appearances, he's yielded three hits, one unearned run and five walks in nine innings.

Barring a major setback, he's likely to begin the season as the No. 3 starter.

"I have plenty of confidence in myself and felt from day one that as long as I was healthy I could win a job here,'' said Bierbrodt, who figured prominently in Tampa Bay's plans a year ago before inexplicably losing his control in the second inning of a spring training start.

The left-hander appeared to be on his way back to the majors last June when he was optioned to Class-A Charleston, where he made one rehab start before he was shot while sitting in an automobile in the drive-thru line of a restaurant.

The early-morning shooting left him with serious wounds to his right arm and chest, but Bierbrodt said he was always confident he would return. The scar on his body from the shooting remains, however Bierbrodt said he is totally over it emotionally.

"I've already put a lid on it and moved on,'' Bierbrodt said. "But it was would a nice start for this year (to open the season in the rotation).''