To Yankees manager Joe Girardi, Chien-Ming Wang’s footwork was right on target.
So were his pitches.
Wang made his first appearance since partially tearing a tendon in his foot running the bases against Houston in June, pitching two scoreless innings for the Yankees in a 5-5 tie with the Astros on Monday.
“I think when you have an injury like that, you watch how they push off and he looked the same as before he got hurt,” Girardi said in Kissimmee, Fla. “That means he’s comfortable with the way he feels. If he’s comfortable with the way he feels, we’re obviously a lot more comfortable.”
He threw 23 pitches, 12 for strikes, and allowed two singles, which both came on his trademark pitch, the sinker.
Wang’s foot was tested when he chased down a bunt in front of home plate and when he ran to cover the base on a groundball to the first baseman.
“I feel good,” Wang said. “Nothing wrong.”
sons, including when he won 19 games in both 2006 and 2007.
Wang fared a lot better than Astros starter Mike Hampton.
Hampton allowed four runs and six hits in two innings. He gave up extra-base hits to Melky Cabrera and Angel Berroa, and didn’t work a scheduled third inning because of a high pitch count.
On Tuesday, the Yankees are scheduled to face their captain, Derek Jeter, when they play Team USA in a World Baseball Classic warmup at George M. Steinbrenner Field.
“We’re going to drill him,” Yankees catcher Jorge Posada joked. “It’s the first time we’ve played against each other. It will be fun.”
Angels ace John Lackey made his spring debut,too, working two innings of hitless ball in the Los Angeles’ 12-3 victory over the Colorado Rockies at Tuscon, Ariz.
“The arm felt great,” Lackey said. “I didn’t throw the ball inside for strikes like I needed to, but other than that, it was a pretty good place to start.”
The Angels ace retired all six batters he faced, with one strikeout.
Last spring, Lackey strained a triceps and missed the first six weeks of the regular season. He said he spent extra time on an exercise program to strengthen his elbow and shoulder as a preventative measure.
“I have not felt any pain going back to last spring,” Lackey said.
In other news:
dale, Ariz., White Sox pitchers Jose Contreras and Bartolo Colon threw their first pitches off the mound this spring training.
Contreras is more than three months ahead of schedule after rupturing his left Achilles’ tendon last August. Not only did he throw all his pitches, but several times he dropped his arm angle down and threw sidearm to test the injury.
His fastball had pop on it, leaving pitching coach Don Cooper saying, “Hey, we could plug him tomorrow. But we’re not going to do that.”
Colon is coming off offseason surgery to clean some bone chips up in his right elbow.
“Bartolo is coming back from a little bit of arm problems,” Cooper said. “Jose is coming back from a leg problem, so you can see physically, stuff wise, Contreras is a bit ahead.”
Top Dodgers prospect Ivan DeJesus Jr., a shortstop, broke his right leg sliding into home plate during a B game. DeJesus, the organization’s minor league player of the year for 2008, is likely done for the season.
At Jupiter, Fla., Alex Rodriguez reported to the Dominican Republic team and took part in its first workout in preparation for the World Baseball Classic. The practice came one day after Rodriguez met for two hours with Major League Baseball officials about his positive drug tests in 2001-03 while with the Texas Rangers.
to get yesterday behind me – another one of the big steps,” Rodriguez said. “For me, now the focus is the WBC.”
Rodriguez declined to say what happened at the meeting, or what he expects regarding any follow-up.
The Oakland Athletics are close to signing free agent Orlando Cabrera to a $4 million, one-year contract, likely ending former AL Rookie of the Year Bobby Crosby’s disappointing tenure as the team’s starting shortstop. The deal is contingent on the 34-year-old Cabrera’s passing a physical.
In other games, it was:
Orioles 5, Red Sox 3
At Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Justin Masterson pitched two scoreless innings for Boston, and has allowed no runs, two hits and one walk in four innings over two appearances. Baltimore’s Donnie Murphy hit a tiebreaking two-run homer off in the eighth off Adam Mills.
Phillies 12, Blue Jays 7
At Dunedin, Fla., Raul Ibanez hit two doubles and Ryan Howard had a two-run homer off the light tower beyond the right-center field fence for Philadelphia.
Pirates 2, Reds 1
At Bradenton, Fla., Homer Bailey threw three scoreless innings for the Reds, giving up a hit and a walk with four strikeouts. Zach Duke pitched two scoreless innings for the Pirates.
Rays 8, Cardinals 5
five hits and a walk in two innings in his first spring start for St. Louis.
Rangers 8, Indians 7
At Goodyear, Ariz., Omar Vizquel had an RBI single in Texas’ four-run second and Jarrod Saltalamacchia had a three-run triple in the third.
Royals 14, Giants 5
At Surprise, Ariz., Kyle Davies pitched three scoreless innings, John Suomi had four RBIs and Chris Lubanski went 3-for-3 with two RBIs for Kansas City.
Padres 4, Brewers 3
At Peoria, Ariz., Josh Geer pitched two solid innings in his first spring training start for San Diego, allowing one run and three hits while striking out one. Brewers starter Jeff Suppan allowed three runs and three hits in three innings, including Emil Brown’s three-run homer with one out in the first inning.
Diamondbacks 9, Cubs 1
At Mesa, Ariz., Carlos Zambrano struck out three in two hitless innings for Chicago, and Arizona’s Dan Haren gave up a walk and struck out two in two hitless innings. Diamondbacks catcher Chris Snyder capped a five-run fourth inning with a three-run home run off reliever Mitch Atkins.
Mariners 5, White Sox 3
At Glendale, Ariz., Jarrod Washburn pitched two scoreless innings for Seattle, and third baseman Adrian Beltre went 0-for-3 with an RBI. Jim Thome hit a three-run homer for Chicago.
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