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 Thursday, March 9
Yankees finally win a spring game
 
Associated Press

  FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Watch out. The New York Yankees are winning again.

They won their first exhibition game Wednesday after an 0-6 start and some concerned comments from owner George Steinbrenner, with Andy Pettitte pitching four scoreless innings in a 10-4 win over the Boston Red Sox.

Tino Martinez
Tino Martinez's three-run homer helped the Yankees to their first win of the exhibition season.

Tino Martinez and Luke Wilcox each hit three-run homers in the Yankees' 13-hit attack. The Red Sox had eight hits.

It was the first meeting between the long-time rivals since the final game of the AL championship series Oct. 18 and it drew 7,132 fans, a record for 8-year-old City of Palms Park.

The Yankees won that last meeting 6-1 at Fenway Park to win the series 4-1, then went on to their second straight World Series sweep.

Last year, New York also struggled in spring training, going 14-19.

In their first six exhibition games this year, they never led and were outscored 56-21.

"You don't like to see that," Steinbrenner said after New York fell to 0-3 with a 12-4 loss to Pittsburgh, "It's still early."

"I've told you guys that it's too early," Steinbrenner told reporters, having made an early exit from a 15-1 loss to Cleveland that dropped the Yankees to 0-5. "But pretty soon, we'll be at a point where it won't be early anymore. We're not there, yet."

The streak continued with a 7-5 loss to Minnesota on Tuesday.

It finally ended without the Yankees' best players. Derek Jeter, Bernie Williams and Paul O'Neill didn't make the trip from the team's camp in Tampa, two hours to the north.

Martinez hit a three-run homer as the Yankees took a 7-0 lead in a six-run fifth inning against Jin Ho Cho. Wilcox, who hit 29 homers in the minors last year, made it 10-2 with another three-run homer, in the eighth off Julio Santana.

Pettitte, making his second start, allowed singles by Troy O'Leary in the second and Jose Offerman in the third.

Mike Grace followed with two perfect innings before Brandon Knight allowed two runs on three hits in the seventh.

Boston's Brian Rose pitched well in his second start, allowing one hit in two innings. He was followed by Juan Pena, who gave up New York's first run in the third on Rafael Bournigal's double, a stolen base and Roberto Kelly's groundout.

Royals 12, Indians 1
WINTER HAVEN, Fla. -- Manager Charlie Manuel, 56, returned to the Indians after undergoing emergency colon surgery on Feb. 28. He was released Sunday from Winter Haven Hospital.

"It felt good to be back in the dugout, but when I saw 20 hits and all those runs ... I think they were testing me to see how strong I was," Manuel said. "It seemed like a long game."

Team doctors said Manuel, who got to the field in a golf cart but walked to the dugout from the clubhouse, is allowed as much physical activity as he feels comfortable with. He will be required to undergo a follow-up surgical procedure sometime this summer.

"He saw something in my first at-bat," first baseman Jim Thome said. "He told me to slow down and get my timing. It was fun to have him back talking baseball."

Dodgers 12, Tigers 5
VERO BEACH, Fla. -- Todd Hundley hit a two-run homer and Orel Hershiser pitched three scoreless innings as the Dodgers beat Detroit Tigers, stopping an 0-6 skid of their own.

"Anybody who knows anything about baseball knows these games don't mean anything," Eric Karros said. "Don't get me wrong, it's nice to win games, but there are a lot of other things we're more concerned about."

Astros 5, Marlins (ss) 4
KISSIMMEE, Fla. -- Marc Sagmoen hit a two-run homer, his second ninth-inning, game-winning hit this spring. He is 3-for-6 with two homers and team-leading five RBIs. Houston's Jose Lima, making his third appearance, allowed two unearned runs and three hits in three innings.

Marlins (ss) 6, Mets (ss) 2
VIERA, Fla. -- Brad Penny, bidding for the fifth spot in Florida's rotation, pitched three scoreless innings and Derrick Lee doubled twice.

Mets (ss) 12, Cardinals 3
PORT St. LUCIE, Fla. -- Joe Nunnally was 4-for-4 with two homers, a double and six RBI, making him 7-for-7 with three home runs in his last two games. Melvin Mora, Todd Pratt, Rey Ordonez and Jeff Lamb also homered for the Mets, who have 14 homers in their last five games.

Blue Jays 11, Braves 7
KISSIMMEE, Fla. -- Kevin Millwood was pounded for four runs -- three earned -- and four hits in three innings. Toronto broke a 5-all tie with five runs in the eighth inning, keyed by two-run doubles from Anthony Sanders and Brent Abernathy.

Expos 6, Orioles 2
JUPITER, Fla. -- Miguel Batista faced the minimum in three innings. Montreal scored four times in the fourth off Jason Johnson on a single by Andy Tracy and doubles by Charlie O'Brien, Jose Vidro and Mickey Morandini, who drove in two runs.

Devil Rays 1, Phillies 0
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Jim Morris retired the only three batters he faced -- Chris Pritchitt, Kevin Sefcik and Johnny Estrada -- in the seventh inning to combine with winner Juan Guzman, Ryan Rupe and Roberto Hernandez on a four-hitter. Quinton McCracken went 2-for-4 and drove in the game's only run with a third-inning single off Paul Byrd.

Rangers 8, Twins 6
FORT MYERS, Fla. -- David Hulse hit a two-run single in a three-run 10th inning and Frank Catalonnato went 5-for-6 with a home run and three RBI. Mike Lamb went 4-for-6 with two RBI as Texas got 20 hits.

Pirates 6, Reds 4
SARASOTA, Fla. -- Ken Griffey Jr. hit his second home run of the spring, connecting off Mike Garcia leading off the seventh inning.

Athletics (ss) 22, White Sox 10
TUCSON, Ariz. -- Ryan Christenson drove in six runs with a grand slam and two-run double to overcome a Frank Thomas slam. The A's, who finished with 20 hits, broke open the game in the second inning when they sent 14 batters to the plate and scored 10 runs against starter Mike Sirotka and Pat Daneker.

Athletics (ss) 7, Angels (ss) 2
PHOENIX -- John Jaha, who has been bothered by a sore foot, homered in his first at-bat and also doubled.

Padres 6, Cubs 2
MESA, Ariz. -- Damian Jackson had two hits and two RBIs, and Wiki Gonzalez had two hits and two runs scored for the Padres. Mark Grace went 3-for-3 with an RBI single.

Brewers 7, Diamondbacks (ss) 4
PHOENIX -- Marquis Grissom, Luis Lopez and Lyle Mouton homered for Milwaukee, while Jay Bell connected for the Diamondbacks.

Angels (ss) 6, Rockies (ss) 3
TEMPE, Ariz. -- Rick Croushore was pounded for five runs and six hits in 1 1-3 innings, giving up a solo homer to Jim Edmonds and a two-run drive to Garret Anderson.

Mariners 4, Giants 1
PEORIA, Ariz. -- Alex Rodriguez went 0-for-3 after the Seattle Mariners told him they were going to keep him, and Edgar Martinez hit his second home run of the spring.
 


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