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.
College basketballer Kaitlyn Chen has become the first female player of Taiwanese descent to be drafted by a WNBA team, after the Golden State Valkyries selected her in the third and final round of the league’s draft on Monday. Chen, a point guard who played her first three seasons in college for Princeton University, transferred to the University of Connecticut (UConn) for her final season, which culminated in a national championship earlier this month. While at Princeton, Chen was named the Ivy League tournament’s most outstanding player three times from 2022 to last year. Prior to the draft, ESPN described Chen as
Robinson Cano spent 17 seasons playing in the MLB in front of all kinds of baseball fans, but he said there is something special about his stint with the Mexican Baseball League’s Diablos Rojos. He is not alone. The league last week opened its 100th season, aiming to keep an impressive growth in attendance that began after the national team’s surprise run at the 2023 World Baseball Classic, and is already surpassing some first-division soccer clubs. After finishing third in the 2023 tournament, many casual fans, some of them soccer enthusiasts disappointed after Mexico were eliminated in the first round in the 2022
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
Arne Slot has denied that Darwin Nunez was dropped from Liverpool’s win against West Ham because of a training-ground row with a member of his coaching staff. The Liverpool head coach on Sunday last week said that Nunez was absent from the 2-1 victory at Anfield, having felt unwell during training the day before, although the striker sat behind the substitutes throughout the game. Speculation has been rife that the Uruguay international, whom Slot criticized for his work rate against Wolves and Aston Villa in February, was left out for disciplinary reasons. Asked on Friday to clarify the situation, Slot said: “He
RSS