David Wells made his Boston debut and began looking ahead to opening day.
Andy Pettitte is still waiting to make his first start of spring training.
Wells worked two solid innings during the Tampa Bay Devil Rays' 6-4 victory over the Red Sox on Saturday, then said he'd be happy to start opening night April 3 against his former team, the New York Yankees, if Curt Schilling isn't yet recovered from offseason ankle surgery.
"I don't mind taking the ball in any game no matter what, especially a big game, and the first game of the season is going to be a big game," said Wells, who now wears No. 3, the same number one of his favorite players, Babe Ruth, wore with the Yankees.
Pettitte was scratched from his scheduled start for Houston because of a sprained right ankle after falling down some stairs at his apartment Friday.
"He's feeling pretty good today and it is not as swollen as we thought it would be," Houston manager Phil Garner said.
Pettitte tested the ankle in a brief session at the Astros' camp Saturday morning. The 32-year-old left-hander is trying to rebound from an injury-plagued 2004 season that included three trips to the disabled list because of elbow problems.
"He probably could have gone a little longer, but we didn't want to push it," Garner said. "We'll give him another bullpen session on Tuesday and maybe pitch him in a game later in the week."
After going through rehab for the past eight months, Pettitte pitched three innings in a simulated game Tuesday.
Tim Redding replaced Pettitte and struck out six in four scoreless innings to help Houston defeat the Cleveland Indians 7-3 in Winter Haven, Florida.
At Fort Myers, Florida, the 41-year-old Wells allowed four hits, one earned run and a wild pitch. He had no walks or strikeouts while throwing 28 pitches, 20 for strikes.
"My only job here is to go in here and win with the Boston Red Sox and try to give them quality innings and try to bring another championship to Boston," Wells said.
B.J. Upton hit a solo homer for Tampa Bay. David Ortiz hit a three-run homer and Trot Nixon added a solo shot for Boston.
In other games:
Yankees 5, Phillies (ss) 2
At Tampa, Florida, Hideki Matsui hit a grand slam and Jaret Wright allowed three hits in three scoreless innings.
Twins 4, Blue Jays 1
At Dunedin, Florida, Carlos Silva threw four strong innings for Minnesota.
Nationals 6, Marlins 3
At Jupiter, Florida, Josh Beckett turned in the finest performance by any Florida starter this spring, allowing four hits and one unearned run in six innings.
Tigers 4, Braves (ss) 3
At Kissimmee, Florida, Tim Hudson became the first Atlanta starter to give up a run this spring, allowing a homer to Carlos Pena.
Mets 5, Dodgers 5, 11 innings
At Vero Beach, Florida, Kazuhisa Ishii made a strong case to rejoin Los Angeles' rotation, allowing one hit over four innings in his first start of the spring.
Mets (ss) 3, Cardinals 2
At Port St. Lucie, Florida, Matt Morris pitched two strong innings in his spring debut following offseason shoulder surgery, but Tom Glavine tossed four innings of no-hit ball for New York.
Carlos Beltran hit his second homer for the Mets, and David Wright had a two-run double.
Tainan TSG Hawks slugger Steven Moya, who is leading the CPBL in home runs, has withdrawn from this weekend’s All-Star Game after the unexpected death of his wife. Moya’s wife began feeling severely unwell aboard a plane that landed at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday evening. She was rushed to a hospital, but passed away, the Hawks said in a statement yesterday. The franchise is assisting Moya with funeral arrangements and hopes fans who were looking forward to seeing him at the All-Star Game can understand his decision to withdraw. According to Landseed Medical Clinic, whose staff attempted to save Moya’s wife,
Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt yesterday backed Nick Champion de Crespigny to be the team’s “roving scavenger” after handing him a shock debut in the opening Test against the British and Irish Lions Test in Brisbane. Hard man Champion de Crespigny, who spent three seasons at French side Castres before moving to the Western Force this year, is to get his chance tomorrow with first-choice blindside flanker Rob Valetini not fully fit. His elevation is an eye-opener, preferred to Tom Hooper, but Schmidt said he had no doubt about his abilities. “I keep an eye on the Top 14 having coached there many years
Ukrainian coal miner Andrii’s face lit up when he talked about meeting Oleksandr Usyk. “Wow,” the 36-year-old said in English. Andrii and more than a dozen other war veterans were on hand when Usyk beat Daniel Dubois at Wembley Stadium on Saturday night to become the undisputed world heavyweight champion. It was a rematch of their 2023 bout that Andrii viewed under vastly different circumstances. “I watched this fight on the front line on my phone,” he said through an interpreter during a stop on Friday at the Ukrainian Embassy in London. “We were watching very quietly, but when he won there was loud
Saudi Arabia yesterday were drawn to take on Iraq and Indonesia in the fourth phase of Asia’s preliminaries for next year’s FIFA World Cup, with back-to-back Asian Cup winners Qatar to face the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Oman. The winners of each of the three-team groups, which are to be played in October, would join already-qualified Australia, Japan, South Korea, Uzbekistan, Iran and Jordan at next year’s expanded 48-nation finals in the US, Canada and Mexico. Saudi Arabia, who are attempting to qualify for a seventh World Cup finals since 1994, are to host Group A and open against Indonesia on
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