Philadelphia Phillies: Right-handed reliever Turk Wendell's return to the bullpen was dealt a setback Tuesday.

Wendell, who missed all of last season after elbow surgery, has a sore elbow. He felt pain during his last outing against the Minnesota Twins on Sunday.

"I threw a pitch and felt something," he said. "I have some swelling right on the scar itself. I couldn't play catch (Monday). It might be OK in two days. I'd rather be cautious now."

Wendell, who turns 36 in May, has a 3.90 ERA in 484 career games with the Chicago Cubs, New York Mets and Phillies since 1993. He played a major role on the Mets' 2000 NL championship team, appearing in 77 games while posting a 3.59 ERA.

Wendell had surgery last May after experiencing recurring tendinitis in the right elbow. He has allowed six hits and four runs in 2 2/3 innings this spring.

"It's an issue," Phillies manager Larry Bowa said of the injury. "It's not the kind of news you look for right now. I would say, just by the few innings he's pitched, if this is two, three days, he won't start the season with the team."

In other news, right-hander Brandon Duckworth, sidelined with right forearm tendinitis, threw off the mound Tuesday and will pitch one inning on March 22, throw 35 pitches on March 25 and stay back to pitch in a minor league game on March 30. If all goes well, Duckworth would open the season as the fifth starter.

Catcher Mike Lieberthal reported no pain in his injured pelvic area after playing in his first game since the spring opener on Monday. He started again Tuesday.

Second baseman Placido Polanco remained sidelined with a sore groin.

Cincinnati Reds: The move from closing games to starting them has Danny Graves' head spinning faster than one of his rally-ending sinkers. No one could prepare him for this.

There's too little time to kill and too few things to do before the first pitch. Then, there's this matter of the windup. Graves doesn't have one.

"It's totally new," said Graves, who had been a reliever throughout his professional career. "It's been about 12 years since the last time I did a windup. No rule says you have to have it. I've tried like 72 different windups, and 71 of them didn't work."

No matter. The Reds are counting on Graves, who saved 30 games each of the last three seasons, to save the entire bullpen this time around.

With a wealth of dependable relievers and a dearth of proven starters, the Reds decided to move Graves into the rotation this season. Scott Williamson, who throws harder and gets more strikeouts, will be the primary closer.

Manager Bob Boone and pitching coach Don Gullett think that Graves is better suited to a starting role, allowing him to use his slider and changeup as well as his trademark sinker. Graves started four games near the end of last season and went 1-0 with a 1.89 ERA, showing he could do it.

The problem: He's not always sure how to do it. Graves hasn't pitched out of a windup since his pro career started in the Cleveland Indians' farm system in 1995. Even when he'd start an inning, Graves would pitch out of the stretch.

"He's not comfortable in the windup," Gullett said Tuesday. "The most important thing is for him to feel comfortable out there."

Chicago Cubs: Sammy Sosa hit his first homer of the spring and the Chicago Cubs overcame a grand slam by Seattle's Ichiro Suzuki to beat the Mariners 10-8 Tuesday in a split-squad game.

Chicago closer Antonio Alfonseca strained his right hamstring when he slipped on the grass and fell down while fielding Randy Winn's chopper in the fourth inning. He had to be taken off the field on a cart and an MRI was scheduled for Wednesday.

San Francisco Giants: Barry Bonds hit his seventh homer this spring, a drive estimated at 500 feet, and Rich Aurilia had a grand slam as the Giants beat the Seattle Mariners 7-3 Tuesday in a split-squad game.

Marquis Grissom and Neifi Perez also homered for the Giants.

Freddy Garcia, Seattle's Opening-Day starter, allowed four homers as he was extended to six innings for the first time this spring.

The Giants had loaded the bases with two outs in the fifth on singles by J.T. Snow and pinch hitter Tony Torcato and a walk to Jose Cruz Jr.

Aurilia then hit a 2-2 pitch into the grassy area beyond left field.

"He struck me out the previous two times on great pitches,'' Aurilia said. "It was nice to do good things against a top quality pitcher like him."

On the next pitch, Bonds hit a fly ball that landed on the street beyond right field.

"Garcia would have had a home run, but he hit his into the wind," Bonds said of another fly ball. "I hit with the wind."

Bonds, who finished the day 2-for-3, has seven homers in 26 spring at-bats with a team-leading 12 RBI. He has a 1.269 slugging percentage and a .500 on-base percentage.

The ball traveled an estimated 500 feet.

"That's kind of conservative," Giants manager Felipe Alou said. "I didn't see the swing but I heard the noise and looked toward the light tower. Wow!"

Anaheim Angels: Ramon Ortiz pitched five shutout innings, and Darin Erstad homered and drove in four runs Tuesday as the Angels beat the Oakland Athletics 8-2.

Ortiz, 15-9 last season, allowed three hits and struck out five in his second straight strong effort. He had five strikeouts in four shutout innings against San Diego last Thursday.

Ortiz hasn't allowed a run since giving up one in three innings March 8 against the A's.

"Ramon took a huge step forward," Angels' manager Mike Scioscia said. "I think he's been throwing the ball the best I've seen all spring."

Ortiz allowed a franchise-record 40 homers last season -- 32 with the bases empty.

"It wasn't an issue when we talked about it last year," Scioscia said. "It's not an issue now. When you go after hitters aggressively, sometimes you're going to get easy outs. Sometimes you're going to give up home runs. That's all part of the package. You can't get around that."