FORT MYERS, Fla. – Boston Red Sox first baseman Adrian Gonzalez went 3 for 6 in a Triple-A game Wednesday as he keeps working his way back from offseason surgery on his right shoulder.

Gonzalez was the third batter in each of the first six innings against a team of Tampa Bay minor leaguers. He singled three times, scored a run and drove in one. He did not play the field.

“It went well,” Gonzalez said. “The shoulder’s been feeling really good. I know for (head trainer) Mike (Reinold) it was playing back to back. For me, it was more getting my timing down.

“The first couple of days I was just hitting, just looking for a fastball. And then the last couple of days I’ve been trying to actually have at-bats. It hasn’t gone too well. So it was good to be able to go up there and try to have at-bats. And then kind of mix it up and be aggressive. It felt good.”

Gonzalez has only 16 plate appearances in Grapefruit League games this spring as he continues his rehabilitation and is batting .143. He was held back early in camp as the Red Sox monitored his progress.

Gonzalez, a three-time All-Star, originally hurt his shoulder while playing for San Diego last May in Houston, diving for a foul ball. He had surgery in October and the Red Sox acquired him in a winter trade with the Padres.

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Gonzalez expects to play in most of Boston’s remaining exhibition games. It’s planned that he’ll miss today’s game against Florida in Jupiter and Sunday’s game against Baltimore in Sarasota.

NATIONALS: Washington put pitcher Stephen Strasburg on the 60-day disabled list as he recovers from elbow surgery last September.

BLUE JAYS: Right-hander Brandon Morrow will start the regular season on the disabled list because of inflammation in his forearm.

Manager John Farrell is hopeful Morrow will return by mid-April.

YANKEES: Center fielder Curtis Granderson might not be ready for opening day because of a strained muscle on his right side.

Major League Baseball and the players’ union announced the 20 best-selling jerseys from last season and Derek Jeter headed the list, followed by Minnesota’s Joe Mauer and Philadelphia’s Roy Halladay.

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PHILLIES: Pitcher Roy Oswalt was knocked to the ground by a line drive to the neck in an exhibition game against Tampa Bay.

Oswalt stayed down for nearly a minute. Then, he rose to his feet and walked off the mound on his own.

X-rays revealed Manny Ramirez’s liner that hit Oswalt behind the right ear left nothing beyond a bruise. The team says it may not prevent him from making his next scheduled start.

“He’s all right. X-rays said he’s all right,” Manager Charlie Manuel said. “When he got up he was OK.”

The Phillies said Oswalt did not lose consciousness and was not dizzy before leaving in the fourth inning of a 4-1 loss.

“Fortunately it was not driven in a manner that could have really caused some damage,” Rays Manager Joe Maddon said. “Our guys were very concerned up on the dugout. I liked the fact that our guys were applauding for him as he walked off the field, you never want to see that happen.”

RANGERS: Right-hander Brandon Webb was scratched from a scheduled bullpen session because he was unable to get loosened up to pitch.

Webb was scheduled to throw 60 to 70 pitches in his fourth bullpen session. He says he didn’t feel any pain in his surgically repaired right shoulder.

 


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