Spring training scoreboard

	Pettitte

New York Yankees: Left-hander Andy Pettitte skipped his exhibition start Friday against Pittsburgh after feeling tightness in his elbow while warming up.

Pettitte initially felt a twinge during the second inning of a two-inning outing March 3 against Houston, but did not leave the game. When he felt it again Friday about 20 pitches into his pregame warmup, he decided not to pitch.

"The best thing to do was to shut him down," pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre said. "It isn't because he couldn't have pitched. He said he felt it when he tried to juice the ball. As early as it is, there's no reason not to be cautious."

Pettitte, a 15-game winner and the 2001 American League championship series MVP, said the problem isn't serious and he expects to be ready for his next start in five days.

Pettitte said he overthrew a four-seam fastball against the Astros when his arm got ahead of his body, but the discomfort was minor. He gave up two runs and four hits in that game, but did not receive a decision.

Stottlemyre and trainer Gene Monahan knew of the problem and advised him to stop throwing Friday if the pain returned. When it did, Pettitte immediately went to the clubhouse and began icing his elbow.

"You pitch with so much stuff during the year, you know your body," he said. "If I would have had to pitch, I could have pitched. But I didn't want to aggravate it and then be questionable for my next one.

"Last year probably was the first year in the last three or four springs I didn't aggravate my elbow in spring training. I've been through this before and I don't want to aggravate it and, three weeks from now, get stuck down here and get left behind."

Pettitte was to meet with Allen Miller, one of the Yankees' doctors, after returning to the team's Tampa training camp. The results of an MRI test are expected Saturday.

First baseman Jason Giambi and shortstop Derek Jeter could both return from injuries Saturday.

Giambi has been out since Monday with left hamstring tightness. The same problem also kept the first baseman out of two games last week.

Jeter has been sidelined by a strained neck muscle the past five days.

Yankees manager Joe Torre said Friday that Giambi will play Saturday, and that it was Jeter's decision if he would take part in the game against Tampa Bay.

Jeter took part in flip drills with spring training instructor Don Mattingly in the cage before hitting on the field. He also took grounders at shortstop.

"Absolutely," said Jeter, when asked if he's ready to play Saturday. "I swung good. It's OK."

Outfielder Rondell White, sidelined by a left rib cage strain, reported no problems after undergoing twisting exercises and running on a treadmill for the first time.

"It felt good," White said. "No pain at all."

White could run outside Saturday and swing a bat one day later.

	Pujols

St. Louis Cardinals: National League Rookie of the Year Albert Pujols was back in uniform Friday, a day after spraining his left ankle, and hoped to be playing again in a few days.

Pujols didn't take batting practice before the St. Louis Cardinals played the Minnesota Twins in Jupiter, Fla., but might take BP Saturday.

"They don't want me to do anything," he said. "I don't like it because you come here and when you see the guys hitting you want to jump in there, but you can't do anything because you have to go by the rules."

Pujols, 22, hit .329 last year with 37 homers and an NL rookie-record 130 RBI. A year earlier, he was in Class A.

Pujols was hurt in the second inning of the game Thursday against the Philadelphia Phillies. He was legging out a grounder to third and landed awkwardly on the first-base bag.

Pujols said he was trying to avoid the first baseman.

"I saw him leaning and I thought I was going to hit him," Pujols said. "And I got hurt. I hit the corner and whoops, I slipped off.

"It scared me really bad. At first, I couldn't feel my leg. Thank God it was my ankle and not my knee, because I could be out for longer than what I am now. It's only a couple of days, probably."

So Taguchi got his first hits of the spring, snapping an 0-for-14 slump that featured mostly weak groundouts, in the St. Louis Cardinals' loss to the Minnesota Twins on Friday.

Taguchi, trying to become the third Japanese position player in the major leagues, singled on a two-strike count off the mound and up the middle against Eric Milton for an RBI in the second inning. He added an opposite-field single off Brad Thomas in the fourth before flying out against Mike Jackson in the sixth.

Los Angeles Dodgers: Kazuhisa Ishii struck out four in two scoreless innings in his U.S. debut as the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Atlanta Braves 5-1 Friday.

Ishii needed only 30 pitches to work through the two innings, working in sliders and splitters with his fastball. He allowed just one hit and no walks.

"I'm satisfied with the way I threw today," Ishii said through an interpreter. "I was a little nervous, but more than nervous I was excited pitching for the first time on an American field in a game that counted."

Julio Franco's single in the first was the only hit allowed by Ishii, who came to the Dodgers from Japan's Yakult Swallows.

	Suzuki

Seattle Mariners: Pitcher Paul Abbott hit his first home run since high school, a three-run shot off shaky Livan Hernandez that sent the Seattle Mariners over the San Francisco Giants 13-8 Friday.

The spring training game also took on historical significance because of Ichiro Suzuki and Tsuyoshi Shinjo.

With Suzuki starting in right field for the Mariners and Tsuyoshi Shinjo in center for the Giants, it marked the first time two position players from Japan have faced each other in the United States.

Suzuki went 2-for-4 and Shinjo was 1-for-3.

"Obviously, today was a big event," Suzuki said through a translator. "In the future, I think it might come to a point where it's not such a major event. But it might not come for a long time."

Ruben Sierra and John Olerud also hit three-run homers off Hernandez.

	Hudson

Oakland Athletics: Tim Hudson made his spring debut with two scoreless innings in a 5-2 loss against the Milwaukee Brewers.

Hudson, a 20-game winner in 2000, has been hampered by an ankle injury for two weeks.

"I was pleasantly surprised," A's manager Art Howe said. "I thought he would struggle with his command, but he had everything working."

	Batista

Baltimore Orioles: Baltimore Orioles third baseman Tony Batista is looking for some peace of mind.

Batista has scheduled an MRI exam on Saturday to ease his concern about headaches he experienced earlier this week. He missed a second straight game Friday to see a team physician, who found nothing wrong.

But Batista wants to be absolutely certain that he's OK.

"I just felt kind of weird," he said. "Yesterday I didn't feel it, and today I didn't feel it. But I just want to make sure nothing is wrong."

Batista was one of two Orioles scratched from Friday's 5-1 win over Baltimore. Right-hander Jason Johnson pulled out because of a cracked fingernail on the middle finger of his pitching hand.

The injury occurred Thursday when he attempted to snare a grounder during fielding drills.

"It hit me square-on and ripped the skin away from the nail," he said. "Just so it doesn't rip anymore, I'll take today off and maybe tomorrow."

Johnson, projected to be the No. 2 or 3 starter in the rotation, expects the problem to be behind him well before the regular season begins.

	Loaiza

Toronto Blue Jays: Right-hander Esteban Loaiza, sidelined last month with a lesion on his shoulder, resumed throwing off flat ground Friday.

The Blue Jays don't know when Loaiza, shut down on Feb. 20, will be able to throw off the mound or pitch in a game.

Loaiza tied for the team lead in wins last season, going 11-11 with a 5.02 ERA.

Mike Sirotka and Steve Parris also threw off flat ground Friday. Parris, who is coming back from shoulder surgery Sept. 25, should be ready to pitch in the bullpen in seven days.

"No problems with anything physical," Parris said. "Everything is going smoothly."

Sirotka missed all last season with a shoulder injury.

Outfielder Shannon Stewart said he should return to action either Saturday or Sunday after injuring his right ring finger during a fielding drill last Tuesday. Stewart took batting practice Friday for the first time the injury and reported no problems.

	Rolen

Philadelphia Phillies: Scott Rolen homered and drove in four runs as the Philadelphia Phillies rallied from a seven-run deficit to beat the Toronto Blue Jays 9-8 Friday.

The Phillies, shut out in their previous two games, fell behind 7-0 in the third and trailed 8-6 before scoring three runs in the sixth to take the lead.

Reggie Taylor tied the game with an RBI single off Bob File and Eric Valent followed with a run-scoring single to give the Phillies the lead.

Pete Schourek, vying for a bullpen spot as a non-roster player, was the winner despite allowing a run in the sixth. Carlos Silva, a highly regarded prospect who was a Double-A starter last year, worked a scoreless ninth for his second save.

The Phillies established spring highs for runs and hits (13) after being blanked by Montreal and St. Louis the previous two days.