FORT MYERS, Fla. — Tim Wakefield went five scoreless innings Saturday, giving up two hits and two walks with three strikeouts, and the Boston Red Sox beat a split squad of Baltimore Orioles, 6-0.

“(It’s) fun watching guys put up zeros,” said Boston Manager Terry Francona. “(He was) in the zone for the most part, lot of pop-ups, in command of the game. He did a good job.”

Baltimore rookie right-hander Chris Tillman also pitched five innings, giving up two runs on two hits — a fourth-inning double to Dustin Pedroia followed by a home run to left field by Kevin Youkilis — and a walk with one strikeout.

“I thought it went real well today,” Tillman said. “I felt good warming up before the game and when I missed, I missed down. I felt real good about it, even the two hits. Pedroia, I thought that was a great pitch but he got his hands to it. I was happy with it. And the one that Youkilis hit out, I went back to the cutter. It’s a new pitch and I was fairly happy with it. It was a little bit up and he just barreled it up.”

Tillman was a second-round pick of the Seattle Mariners in 2006 but was traded to the Orioles with four players for pitcher Erik Bedard before the 2008 season.

“Good, real good,” Francona said of Tillman’s outing. “They made some moves a couple years ago that their young kids weren’t ready to show at the big-league level. But now, unfortunately, some of those kids are starting to mature and we’re going to see them in the big leagues. They got a chance to be pretty good.”

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Each starting pitcher rebounded well from his previous outing — against the same team. In his last start Monday, Wakefield gave up five runs on nine hits in 32/3 innings to the Orioles. Tillman gave up two runs on four hits and three walks in 22/3 innings in the same game.

The home run was the first of the Grapefruit League season for Youkilis. Pedroia went 2 for 3 and is hitting .367 this spring.

Daisuke Matsuzaka is scheduled to pitch in a minor-league intrasquad game today. It will be his first game activity of the spring after being slowed by back and neck ailments.

The Red Sox optioned left-hander Felix Doubront and catcher Mark Wagner to Triple-A Pawtucket, and reassigned infielder Gil Velazquez to minor-league camp.

Pitcher Alan Embree, who was a member of Boston’s world championship team in 2004, agreed to a minor-league contract with the Red Sox.

RAYS: Catcher Dioner Navarro sustained what the team called a nerve contusion in his left leg during a home-plate collision.

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Navarro, who was hurt when he tagged out Jacque Jones of Minnesota in the fourth inning of Saturday’s 6-2 loss, was taken in an ambulance to a local clinic for X-rays, which came back negative.

BLUE JAYS: Pitcher Brandon Morrow said he expects to make his next scheduled start despite being scratched from a game Friday with a sore right shoulder.

Also, right-hander Dustin McGowan was shut down for a week due to a tired arm, one day after pitching in a game for the first time in nearly 21 months.

INDIANS: Closer Kerry Wood could miss up to two months with a strained muscle in his upper back.

Trainer Lonnie Soloff said Wood has a moderate strain on his right side and will be out a minimum of 6 to 8 weeks.

 

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YANKEES: Outfielder Curtis Granderson said his right hand is fine one day after getting hit by a pitch.

Granderson was hit on the bottom of the hand in Friday night’s game against Tampa Bay. He said everything was good when he arrived at the Yankees’ spring-training complex for a workout.

TIGERS: Reliever Bobby Seay won’t be on the active roster when Detroit opens the regular season April 5 at Kansas City.

Tigers Manager Jim Leyland said Seay has had a setback and can’t throw, but didn’t provide details.

ASTROS: Roy Oswalt will be Houston’s opening-day starter for the eighth consecutive year, extending his club record when the team opens at home April 5 against San Francisco.

Oswalt hasn’t allowed a run in two starts and six innings of work this spring. He’s coming off his only single-digit win season and failed to reach 200 innings pitched for the first time since an injury-plagued 2003.

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PADRES: Right-hander Jon Garland will miss his next scheduled start today because of a “cranky” shoulder, Manager Bud Black said.

Garland, expected to compete for the No. 2 or 3 spot in the Padres’ starting rotation, signed a $4.7 million contract in January with a mutual option for 2011 and a $600,000 buyout.

BREWERS: Yovani Gallardo pitched five shutout innings and provided all the offense Milwaukee needed with a solo home run, leading the Brewers to a 1-0 victory against a Kansas City split squad at Phoenix.

Gallardo allowed four hits with two walks and struck out three. After allowing two base runners in the first inning, he had two 1-2-3 innings.

ATHLETICS: Ben Sheets threw four strong innings to lead Oakland to a 7-4 victory against the Chicago Cubs in a split-squad game for both teams at Phoenix.

Sheets failed to retire a batter while surrendering 10 runs against the Chicago White Sox in his previous start.

ROCKIES: Jeff Francis allowed six runs in four innings, Jason Giambi got his first RBI of spring training and Colorado beat the Los Angeles Angels 11-10 at Tucson, Ariz.

 


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