FORT MYERS, Fla. – Jon Lester worked on something he hopes he doesn’t have to spend much time doing in the regular season: pitching out of jams.
Joe Mauer made his first spring-training start at first base Friday night for the Minnesota Twins in a 2-1 victory against the Boston Red Sox.
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Lester walked one and hit two batters, giving up two runs and five hits in four innings. He struck out two in his fourth spring-training start.
“You’ve got to grind it out when you’re not feeling that great, whether it’s physically or mechanically,” said Lester, who had been scheduled to pitch five innings but was pulled after four because he already had thrown 81 pitches, 47 strikes.
“It’s a good thing to work on, pitching out of jams. You might as well practice it here. That’s obviously ideal,” Lester said.
“I don’t want all of those baserunners. It was just one of those nights. I wanted to go that extra inning. I’ll hopefully get there next time. Hopefully it will be a little bit smoother than this one.”
The night went smoothly for Mauer, who played 18 games at first base last season while Justin Morneau dealt with post-concussion problems.
This marks the first time Mauer has practiced playing first base in the preseason.
Morneau went 0 for 4 as the designated hitter.
Red Sox third baseman Kevin Youkilis went 1 for 2 with an RBI single.
Andrew Miller, recovered from a shoulder setback and still among several candidates vying for the fifth spot in the Red Sox’s rotation, struck out two and walked one with no hits in one inning.
“I feel good right now,” Miller said. “You get a little worried any time you get hurt. From the day I threw that bullpen and didn’t feel good, every day it got better pretty quickly.
“It sounds like three days off and then multiple innings, so I still have some time to build up. Now they’re throwing five innings. The goal for me is to be with the big league club. I threw 26 pitches the first time out and today was around 15. I’ve got a way to go.”
RED SOX NOTES: The Red Sox made their first cuts of camp, reassigning RHPs Tony Pena Jr., Chorye Spoone and Alex Wilson and OF Juan Carlos Linares to minor league camp. OF Che-Hsuan Lin and 3B Will Middlebrooks were optioned to Triple-A Pawtucket. LHP Drake Britton and 2B Oscar Tejeda were optioned to Double-A Portland. Red Sox LF Carl Crawford returned to swinging in the cage while recovering from a sore wrist. He’s not expected to break camp with the team in time for opening day. ” We’re totally controlling it,” Manager Bobby Valentine said. “I’ve had too many meetings on it so far. That’s how many I’ve had. But we’re going to keep controlling it. It’s a designed program.”
YANKEES: Left-hander Andy Pettitte ended his one-year retirement and is making a comeback.
• Shortstop Derek Jeter will be out until Tuesday because of a stiff left calf, an injury that he said is “not that big of an issue.”
ROYALS: Catcher Salvador Perez had surgery to repair a tear in his left knee and will miss at least three months.
CARDINALS: Chris Carpenter, who has been limited in workouts since March 3 because of a stiff neck, threw off a mound for the first time in nearly two weeks.
PHILLIES: Philadelphia released left-handed pitcher Dontrelle Willis.
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