MARLINS-CARDINALS
Wainwright tosses 7
JUPITER, Fla. -- Adam Wainwright pitched into the seventh inning in St. Louis' 3-2 loss to Miami on Tuesday, and Manager Mike Matheny said the ace right-hander will start for the Cardinals on opening night against the Cubs.
Wainwright allowed two runs and eight hits while throwing 93 pitches in 6 2/3 innings. He was slowed by an abdominal injury early in spring training.
Sunday's game in Chicago will be Wainwright's third consecutive opening start and No. 4 overall. Wainwright says it's "really a validation for the work that you put in."
Ichiro Suzuki went 2 for 2 and drove in a run for Miami. He also made a sliding catch in center field.
Henderson Alvarez, who will start on opening day for the Marlins, allowed one run in six innings.
TWINS-YANKEES
Tanaka healthy
FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Masahiro Tanaka gave up three runs in 4 1/3 innings and declared himself healthy and ready for the season following the New York Yankees' 3-1 loss to the Minnesota Twins.
Tanaka struck out one and gave up a solo home run to Eduardo Escobar. He finished spring training with a 3.07 ERA in four starts. He missed 2 1/2 months last season because of a small elbow ligament tear but has had no problems this spring.
Escobar, who appears bound to be the Twins utility infielder, went 2 for 4.
Neither team started many of its projected opening day starters. Brett Gardner went 1 for 2 with a walk for the Yankees.
Twins starting pitcher Tommy Milone allowed a run and four hits in six innings. He struck out five and walked two.
PIRATES-TIGERS
Price to start Monday
LAKELAND, Fla. -- David Price was rocked for seven runs over six innings in his final start of spring training for the Detroit Tigers, a 7-3 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Price is to start Monday's opener against Minnesota, ending Justin Verlander's streak of pitching seven straight Detroit openers.
Price cruised through the first three innings before allowing four run in the fourth on RBI doubles by Andrew McCutchen and Jung-ho Kang. and Francisco Cervelli's two-run home run. Cervelli, who is hitting .344, had an RBI single in the sixth and Sean Rodriguez a two-run single.
Prince allowed eight hits, struck out five and walked none. He finished spring training with a 5.76 ERA.
Pirates starter Vance Worley gave up one run and three hits in three innings. Worley, who went 8-4 in 17 starts for the Pirates last season, found out from Pirates Manager Clint Hurdle before the game that he was beaten out by Jeff Locke for the final spot in the Pirates rotation. Worley will pitch out of the bullpen at the start of the season.
RED SOX-RAYS
Sox have big 9th
PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. -- Blake Swihart drove in three runs with a triple and a single in a nine-run ninth inning that lifted the Boston Red Sox to an 11-8 victory over a Tampa Bay Rays split squad.
Trailing 8-2, the Red Sox rallied with eight hits and three walks off pitchers Zach Cooper, Colton Reavis and Kyle Bird in the ninth.
Boston reliever Edward Mujica started and gave up an unearned run in his only inning.
Sandy Leon, the catcher acquired in Monday's trade from the Washington Nationals, started in his first game with the Red Sox. He played five innings and went 1 for 2.
Jim Miller pitched two-hit ball for two scoreless innings in a start for the Rays.
Daniel Robertson homered twice and drove in five runs for the Rays. Robertson, a minor league shortstop, was a last-minute addition to the Rays lineup. He replaced Alexi Casilla, who was released Tuesday morning.
RAYS-ORIOLES
Rays squeak by
SARASOTA, Fla. -- Competing for the fifth spot in the Baltimore Orioles' rotation, Kevin Gausman gave up four runs in 3 2/3 innings of a 4-3 loss to a Tampa Bay Rays split-squad.
Gausman and Ubaldo Jimenez are vying for the final position and, lately, Jimenez, who signed a four-year, $50 million contract a year ago, has outpitched the 24-year-old.
David De Jesus homered off Gausman to key a three-run third.
Chris Davis' sixth-inning double scored Adam Jones for the Orioles' first run. Nolan Reimold homered for Baltimore in the eighth.
Everett Teaford, who was reassigned to minor league camp on Monday, started for the Rays, and pitched 3 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing three hits.
BLUE JAYS-PHILLIES
Big bats carry Jays
DUNEDIN, Fla. -- Edwin Encarnacion, Jose Bautista and Josh Donaldson each hit long home runs, lifting the Toronto Blue Jays to a 10-6 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies.
Encarnacion's two-run shot off Sean O'Sullivan in the first inning went over batter's eye screen in center field. It was the first of the spring for Encarnacion, who has struggled to a .118 average. He also previously missed 16 games with back inflammation.
Bautista's drive in the fifth, also against O'Sullivan, landed far over the left field fence. Donaldson followed up two batters later with a solo drive off reliever Luis Garcia that easily cleared the 400-foot mark in center.
Prospect Rowdy Tellez added a two-run shot to right for Toronto in the eighth.
O'Sullivan, a candidate for the fifth spot in Philadelphia's rotation, allowed five hits and five runs in four innings. He also walked four and struck out two.
Toronto starter Aaron Sanchez was roughed up in 4 1/3 innings. The right-hander gave up four runs on six hits with six walks and two strikeouts.
Grady Sizemore drove in a run for the Phillies.
METS-NATIONALS
Blevins, Niese lift Mets
VIERA, Fla. -- Jerry Blevins struck out Bryce Harper on three pitches in his first appearance for New York after being acquired in a trade with Washington, and the Mets beat the Nationals 2-0.
The Nationals sent Blevins, a left-handed reliever, to the Mets for outfielder Matt den Dekker on Monday.
Harper, a lefty swinging outfielder, was the only batter Blevins faced, leading off the seventh inning.
John Mayberry Jr. hit a solo home run in the sixth off Nationals starter Gio Gonzalez, who went 5 2/3 innings and allowed two runs and seven hits. He struck out six.
New York starter Jonathon Niese made a slight adjustment in his mechanics and threw six scoreless innings. He allowed four hits and struck out three.
Yunel Escobar played six innings at third base for Washington and is expected to start the season there because Anthony Rendon is out with a sprained medial collateral ligament in his left knee.
Sports on 04/01/2015