CC Sabathia had trouble with Gary Sheffield and the rest of the Detroit Tigers. Roy Halladay, however, has been in control all spring.
Sabathia was roughed up in his second start for the New York Yankees, allowing five runs and six hits in New York’s 7-4 loss to Detroit at Lakeland, Fla. He failed to make it through the second inning.
“I’ll get out and continue to keep working. I need to command both halves of the plate better,” Sabathia said.
The big lefty pitched Milwaukee into the playoffs last season, then left the Brewers as a free agent and signed a $161 million, seven-year contract with the Yankees. All five runs off him Wednesday came in the second, when Sheffield hit the first of his two home runs against his former team.
“I felt like I was throwing the ball pretty sound,” Sabathia said. “But they put the bat on the ball. It kind of snowballed.”
At Dunedin, Fla., Halladay just kept rolling.
four innings to stretch his shutout streak to nine, and the Toronto Blue Jays tied the Pittsburgh Pirates 2-all in 11 innings.
Halladay gave up a one-out double to Andrew McCutcheon and a walk to Nate McLouth in the first inning, then set down the remaining 11 batters he faced, including six on grounders and four strikeouts. He only threw about 55 pitches.
“I think I needed another eight or 10 pitches in the bullpen,” Halladay said.
The right-hander tried to throw as many changeups as he could, about nine in all, and experimented a bit with other pitches.
“Every time out there’s something,” Halladay said. “The curveball’s not as good or you want to improve this or improve that.”
This time it was the changeup, building confidence in it and “getting to know when I can use it effectively and what’s going to happen,” he said.
Craig Monroe homered in the ninth for Pittsburgh. Paul Maholm matched Halladay’s four scoreless innings, allowing three hits and striking two.
At Goodyear, Ariz., Aaron Cook struck out seven over five innings to outpitch AL Cy Young Award winner Cliff Lee, and the Colorado Rockies beat the Cleveland Indians 5-0.
Dan Ortmeier had three hits for the Rockies, who scored four runs off Lee in the first three innings.
e Cliff, but I had a little better result,” said Cook, who gave up three hits without a walk. “I’m a groundball pitcher, so all those strikeouts today probably won’t happen during the season.”
Lee allowed five hits and three earned runs over three innings in his second spring training start. His throwing error gave Colorado an unearned run in the first.
“I’m not happy about that throw. Otherwise, I felt fine,” Lee said. “With guys on base in the regular season, no way I keep pumping fastball after fastball like I did. But I’m here to get sharp and command the fastball first. Then everything follows. That’s the key to pitching.”
Sidearm reliever Joe Smith, sidelined two weeks by a virus, made his Indians debut. He yielded one hit in a scoreless inning.
“It’s about time I got out there,” said Smith, acquired in a December trade from the New York Mets. “I felt all right.”
In other news:
-Manny Ramirez is set to make his spring training debut Thursday for the Los Angeles Dodgers in an exhibition against South Korea’s World Baseball Classic team. Also, the slugger will have his own bobblehead this season, a dreadlocked doll that will be given to the first 50,000 fans in attendance July 22 against Cincinnati.
e of a sore rear end.
-Minnesota catcher Joe Mauer will take a stronger dosage of anti-inflammatory medicine to try to hasten his recovery from a lower-back problem.
Mauer hasn’t played yet in spring training. He had a dye-injection MRI on Tuesday to identify any previously undetected issues. Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said the diagnosis was the same as before.
-Florida utilityman Alfredo Amezaga has a sprained left knee that is expected to sideline him four to six weeks.
-Yankees closer Mariano Rivera, who had surgery on the AC joint in his right shoulder Oct. 7, threw batting practice for the first time this spring. The 39-year-old reliever is scheduled for another BP session Saturday and could pitch in a game early next week.
-Tigers outfielder Marcus Thames likely will miss a week with a strained abdomen.
-Mets reserve outfielder Angel Pagan had arthroscopic surgery to remove a bone spur from his right elbow and is expected to miss six to nine weeks. New York pitcher Mike Pelfrey (mild strain in lower left leg) threw a bullpen session and is set to return to exhibition play this weekend against Washington.
-White Sox slugger Jim Thome was a late scratch from the lineup because of tightness in his back.
h Korea in the World Baseball Classic.
Reds 8, Astros 2
At Sarasota, Fla., Aaron Harang took another step in getting beyond his dismal 2008 season, pitching four scoreless innings for Cincinnati.
Cardinals 8, Marlins 4
At Jupiter, Fla., converted St. Louis outfielder Skip Schumaker committed his fourth error of the spring at second base.
Florida got a bit of a scare when Chris Volstad, the likely No. 3 starter, took a line drive off his right hip in the fifth inning. The 22-year-old Volstad was taken out of the game as a precaution and hoped to make his next start on Sunday or Monday.
Braves 12, Phillies 10
At Clearwater, Fla., Kyle Kendrick’s bid to win a spot in Philadelphia’s rotation was set back with an awful outing. The 24-year-old right-hander was tagged for eight runs and 10 hits in three-plus innings, allowing a pair of two-run homers to Clint Sammons.
Twins 4, Orioles 3
At Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Ty Wigginton had three hits for Baltimore, including an RBI single off Twins closer Joe Nathan.
Japan 6, Giants 4
At Scottsdale, Ariz., NL Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum pitched 2 1-3 scoreless innings. He walked three and struck out five in a 49-pitch outing. Edgar Renteria homered for San Francisco.
Royals 9, Mariners 2
Gil Meche’s back feels better, which is great news for Kansas City. Meche threw 55 pitches in his second Cactus League start after being slowed by back spasms. He tossed 2 1-3 innings, allowing two runs, five hits and two walks.
White Sox 6, Brewers 2
At Phoenix, opening day starter Mark Buehrle looked to be in midseason form, throwing three scoreless innings with four strikeouts for Chicago. Brewers starter Dave Bush shut out the White Sox for four innings.
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