Sabathia roughed up by Pirates

Posted Mar 14, 2010 by TBO.com

Updated Mar 15, 2010 at 06:42 PM

BRADENTON — CC Sabathia struggled while pitching into the fifth inning of his third spring start, giving up a home run to Aki Iwamura.

Sabathia left after Andy LaRoche lined a one-out single to center that glanced off his glove and put runners on first and second. Sabathia threw first-pitch balls to 12 of his 17 batters and only 29 of his 57 pitches for strikes.

The Yankees’ ace allowed three runs, three hits, two walks and struck out two.

Pittsburgh starter Charlie Morton, on the other hand, bounced back from a difficult outing against New York on Tuesday to limit the Yankees to a hit over four innings.

The Pirates got two homers and three RBIs from Bobby Crosby, who entered in the third after Ronny Cedeno departed with a cut to his right hand.

Cardinals 7, Nationals 3

VIERA — Stephen Strasburg pitched three scoreless innings and Washington fell to 0-10 in exhibition play.

Strasburg, the top overall pick in last year’s draft who signed a record $15.1 million contract, allowed two singles and a walk in his second spring training start. The right-hander threw 29 of 49 pitches for strikes, often battling gusty crosswinds.

He struck out two — getting David Freese looking on an 80 mph breaking pitch to end the first — and threw first-pitch strikes to seven of the 11 hitters he faced.

Cardinals right-hander Adam Wainwright allowed two runs on three hits and two walks in four innings. He struck out two.

Marlins 5, Mets 1

JUPITER — Johan Santana resembled the pitcher that many call the premier left-hander in the game the last six years.

Santana pitched four scoreless innings against the Marlins, allowing three hits in his second spring training start since undergoing surgery on his left elbow in September.

Santana and fellow Venezuelan Anibal Sanchez left a scoreless game before the Marlins did all their scoring in the fifth off John Maine.

Orioles 4, Phillies 3

SARASOTA — Brian Matusz gave up three hits and a run in his five innings — the longest and most effective outing by an Orioles starter this spring.

Matusz faced a lineup full of veterans from the NL champions. Philadelphia scored when Jimmy Rollins doubled leading off the fourth and Chase Utley drove him in with a single.

Matusz struck out two and did not walk a batter.

Kyle Kendrick pitched four scoreless innings for the Phillies. He allowed two singles, hit one batter, and did not walk or strike out any.

Adam Jones had two hits and a seventh-inning sacrifice fly that drove in the game-winning run for the Orioles.

Braves (ss) 8, Blue Jays 5

DUNEDIN — Joe Thurston homered and Martin Prado and Freddie Freeman drove in two runs apiece.

Prado’s two-run single capped Atlanta’s three-run second inning against Brandon Morrow. Thurston’s first home run of the spring and Freeman’s two-run single highlighted the Braves’ four-run fourth that chased Jason Frasor after 1-3 of an inning.

The Blue Jays took a brief 5-4 lead against Atlanta reliever James Parr in the third inning on Adam Lind’s two-run triple, Lyle Overbay’s RBI double, and Randy Ruiz’s two-run homer to center.

Red Sox 6, Twins 4

FORT MYERS — Kevin Slowey threw three perfect innings for Minnesota, but Jacoby Ellsbury, Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis drove in fifth-inning runs for Boston.

The Red Sox scratched starter Josh Beckett because of an illness. Minor league reliever Ryne Miller took his place and gave up three first-inning runs.

Slowey struck out four, including David Ortiz, who is 1 for 19 this spring.

Jason Varitek made his first appearance in a spring game, having returned from tending to family business. He struck out and was hit by a pitch, catching four innings.

Twins catcher Joe Mauer was held out for the second game with a sore right shoulder. He said before the game the injury is not a concern.

Astros 8, Braves (ss) 5

KISSIMMEE — Hunter Pence and Carlos Lee hit back-to-back homers during a six-run fourth inning, and Brett Myers struck out six over four innings.

Pence hit his third home run of the spring and drove in three runs, while Lee’s homer was his first and he added a double and two RBIs. Michael Bourne also had two RBIs for the Astros.

Braves starter Kenshin Kawakami was battered for six runs — only three of them earned — on eight hits over 3 2-3 innings.

Brian McCann hit his first two home runs of the spring and drove in three runs for Atlanta, while Omar Infante went 3 for 3 at the plate.