Associated Press
The Spring Training Roundup …
TAMPA, Fla. ó Alex Rodriguez hit his sixth homer of spring training and New York beat Pittsburgh 4-2 Saturday.
Rodriguez cracked a two-run shot to center off Pirates opening-day starter Kevin Correia in the first inning. A-Rod has at least one RBI in nine of his last 10 games.
Correia allowed three runs and five hits over six innings. Jason Jaramillo had an RBI double for Pittsburgh.
Marlins 5, Cardinals 5
JUPITER, Fla. ó Albert Pujols homered twice and Chris Carpenter pitched a spring-high six innings, but the Florida Marlins rallied for three runs off closer Ryan Franklin in the bottom of the ninth to beat the St. Louis Cardinals 6-5.
Dodgers 5, Padres 4
PEORIA, Ariz. ó Rafael Furcal was hit in the back by a pitch shortly after Dodgers reliever Jonathan Broxton plunked a San Diego batter, and the benches cleared as Los Angeles beat the Padres.
There were no pushes, punches or ejections during the dustup in the sixth inning between NL West rivals.
Tigers 3, Phillies (ss) 1
LAKELAND, Fla. ó Justin Verlander prepared for his opening-day start by pitching seven impressive innings and Detroit beat a Philadelphia split squad.
Verlander allowed one run and five hits, striking out three and walking none. Making his final spring start, he lowered his exhibition ERA to 0.96.
Blue Jays 7, Phillies (ss) 6
CLEARWATER, Fla. ó Jose Bautista had three doubles and two RBIs for Toronto.
Bautista, who led the majors with a team-record 54 home runs last year, continued his torrid spring as the regular season nears. Heís batting .396 (19 for 48) with three homers and 13 RBIs in 17 games.
Mets 8, Braves 2
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. ó New York Mets pitcher Mike Pelfrey had his strongest performance of the spring in a win over Atlanta.
Pelfrey, who will be the Metsí starter on opening day at Florida, gave up two runs in 5 2-3 innings and struck out four.
Braves starter Derek Lowe gave up six runs and seven hits in four innings. Two of the runs were unearned, and Atlanta committed five errors overall. Brooks Conrad, who had fielding problems in the playoffs last year, had trouble on grounders at third base and first base.
Cubs 6, Rangers 5
SURPRISE, Ariz. ó Andrew Cashner, assured of a spot in the Cubsí rotation, had a rough first inning before settling down to help Chicago beat Texas.
Brewers 2, Mariners 1, 10 innings
PHOENIX ó Yovani Gallardo struck out nine over five scoreless innings in his final start before opening day and Milwaukee beat Seattle in 10 innings.
Craig Counsell made up for two errors at third base by hitting a sacrifice fly to win it.
Angels 6, White Sox 3
GLENDALE, Ariz. ó Jered Weaver allowed one run over 41/3 innings and Los Angeles beat Chicago.
Weaver gave up three hits, struck out four and walked two. He hadnít walked anyone in his previous 13 1-3 innings.
Royals 9, Diamondbacks 6
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. ó Ian Kennedy struck out nine of the first 18 Kansas City batters he faced in a strong final outing before he starts for Arizona on opening day.
Luke Hochevar, who will pitch the season opener for the Royals, also got his final spring tuneup, allowing four runs and eight hits in four innings before his teammates rallied. Kansas City scored six times in the final two innings in front of a sellout crowd of 12,443.
Orioles 7, Rays 2
PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. ó Brian Roberts and Vladimir Guerrero homered to lead Baltimore over Tampa Bay.
Nationals 10, Astros 0
KISSIMMEE, Fla. ó Livan Hernandez tuned up for his opening-day start with four sharp innings in Washingtonís win over Houston.
Ivan Rodriguez had two of Washingtonís 11 hits.