Los Angeles Dodgers: Stiffness in the surgically repaired elbow of right-hander Kevin Brown could force the Dodgers pitcher to miss at least the first week of the regular season, the Los Angeles Daily News reported in Thursday's editions.

	Brown

After Sunday's spring debut, Brown reported stiffness on the forearm side of his elbow, which forced the Dodgers to push back his next spring appearance.

"We're being prudently cautious. Prudent caution," pitching coach Jim Colborn told the newspaper Wednesday. "After he pitched, the next day he had some stiffness in his arm that really wasn't in the area of his arm that his surgery was. It was in another part of his arm on top of his elbow.

"That is probably a function of these new muscles being taxed that haven't been used in awhile. It's not a setback. It's just the normal crop of ups and downs."

Brown, who turns 37 Friday, has amazed the Dodgers and the medical staff by his quick recovery from September surgery to repair a torn flexor muscle. He was overwhelming in his two innings this spring against Atlanta, striking out six, allowing one hit and walking a batter. He was scheduled to start Thursday against St. Louis, but right-hander Andy Ashby, also coming back from flexor-muscle surgery in June, will pitch in his place.

Brown, who played catch Tuesday and threw a bullpen session Wednesday, might start Friday. Still, the Dodgers are making contingency plans in the event Brown won't be ready for the season opener. Left-hander Kazuhisa Ishii and right-hander Hideo Nomo would be likely candidates to start Opening Day.

	Clemens

New York Yankees: Roger Clemens remains on target to make his next scheduled start Sunday.

The 2001 Cy Young Award winner threw 45 pitches during his regular bullpen session Thursday, two days after being hit by a batted ball near his right ankle.

"Just a shade of discomfort, that's it," Clemens said. "It's onward."

Clemens was hit outside his ankle just above the bone by Dave Berg's infield single in the fourth inning of Tuesday's game against the Toronto Blue Jays.

The expected opening day starter will face the Los Angeles Dodgers in Vero Beach on Sunday.

Clemens won his sixth Cy Young Award last season after going 20-3 with a 3.51 ERA.

Meanwhile, left-hander Andy Pettitte will test his strained left elbow in a minor-league intrasquad game Friday. He's expected to throw around 40 pitches. And reliever Ramiro Mendoza (upper back/neck stiffness) said he will see a chiropractor Friday and might play catch this weekend. He has appeared in just one exhibition game.

Boston Red Sox: Michael Cuddyer was 4-for-5 with two doubles and the Minnesota Twins scored eight runs off knuckleballer Tim Wakefield to beat Red Sox 10-7 on Thursday night, spoiling Grady Little's managerial debut with the Red Sox.

Twins starter Joe Mays struck out six and gave up one unearned run in four innings. In four starts, Mays has given up just one earned run over 12 innings.

J.C. Romero struck out the side in the ninth for the save.

Wakefield recorded only one out and gave up seven earned runs on five hits, two walks, one wild pitch and one hit batsman. Jay Canizaro homered on Wakefield's first pitch.

The Twins snapped Boston starter John Burkett's scoreless streak at nine innings. He gave up one run, in the fourth, after shutting out opponents in his first two starts.

Nomar Garciaparra was 2-for-3 with a home run for Boston.

	Cabrera

Montreal Expos: Shortstop Orlando Cabrera has a herniated disc in his back and will need at least a week of rest, Montreal Expos general manager Omar Minaya said Thursday.

The injury was revealed in MRI exam taken on Wednesday. Cabrera underwent further tests on Thursday and team doctors were considering giving him a cortisone shot, which would require up to a week of rest.

Cabrera said he awoke Sunday with a sore back but didn't think it was serious and decided to play. He had to leave the field during a game on Tuesday against the Los Angeles Dodgers because of back pain.

Minaya said the MRI showed the injury did not require surgery.

Texas Rangers: The club assigned six players to their minor league camp, including third baseman Mark Teixeira, the team's No. 1 pick last June.

The others sent down were right-handed pitcher R.A Dickey, first baseman Jason Hart and catchers Brad King, Gerald Laird and Freddy Torres. The Rangers still have 51 players on their major league roster, including 27 pitchers.

Teixeira, the fifth overall pick in last summer's amateur draft, hit .400 (4-for-10) in his eight spring games. The Rangers haven't said where the switch-hitter will start the season.

Teixeira, 21, missed most of his 2001 season at Georgia Tech because of a broken right ankle. He played just 20 games in the Florida Instructional League last fall, when he hit .246 with 13 RBI. Hart hit .385 (5-for-13) with a homer and seven RBI in six spring games.

San Francisco Giants: Reggie Sanders hit two home runs as a San Francisco Giants split squad defeated the Seattle Mariners 5-4 Thursday night.

David Bell also homered for the Giants, and Angel Pena doubled off Matt Thornton (0-1) to break a 4-4 tie in the bottom of the eighth.

Jeff Verplancke (2-0) pitched the eighth to pick up the victory. Felix Diaz pitched the ninth for his second save.

Jeff Cirillo had three hits for Seattle.

Giants starter Russ Ortiz pitched five innings, allowing two runs on seven hits with three walks and three strikeouts.

"The walks are the killer," said Ortiz. "There were a couple where I was ahead in the count. Those are more frustrating. I don't need to do that."

Cincinnati Reds: Scott Williamson doesn't care about results. The important thing to him is that he'll be back on the mound in a major-league game 11 months after having Tommy John ligament replacement surgery in his right elbow.

Williamson, 26, will pitch one inning tonight against the Yankees. The right-hander has astounded the Reds brass with how good he has looked in throwing sessions this spring. But tonight is different.

"I'm excited, of course," Williamson told the Cincinnati Enquirer. "I haven't pitched in a year. It's going to be a lot of fun."

Williamson will be unveiling his new, smoother delivery. "He looks smoother than I've ever seen him," Reds manager Bob Boone said.

The timing of Williamson's injury -- he had the surgery April 12 -- was such that there was no need to rush him.

"I think that really helped me," he said. "I gave it time to heal. Some guys try to come back after nine or 10 months. I didn't rush it. I've had no setbacks. That's big."

Pittsburgh Pirates: Dave Parker rejoined the Pirates on Thursday as a special instructor.

Parker will spend a week in the Pirates' spring training camp, working for manager Lloyd McClendon and instructing players on hitting, baserunning and outfield defense.

"I'm here to help out in whatever way Lloyd McClendon wants," Parker said. "I did it all when I played and I'm willing to do whatever they want now."

Parker was voted the National League's MVP in 1978 and won NL batting titles in 1977 and 1978. He helped lead the Pirates to their last World Series title in 1979, then left the organization in 1983 after three subpar seasons in which he was injured and overweight.

During the 1985 federal baseball drug trials in Pittsburgh, Parker admitted using drugs while with the Pirates. The Pirates sued Parker in 1988 in an effort to have deferred payments in his contract, signed in 1979, voided because of illegal drug use.

Parker was owed $5.3 million in deferred payments through 2007. The Pirates, then owned by a private-public consortium, settled the lawsuit by paying him less than half that much in a lump sum in 1988.

That consortium eventually sold the team in 1996 to the current ownership group led by Kevin McClatchy.

Parker said he no longer holds animosity toward the Pirates.

"The day I left the organization as a free agent is the day I quit holding a grudge," Parker said. "It's like I always tell the young players. When something bad happens to you, think about it today, analyze it today then let it go tomorrow.

"It's all in the past and I'm happy to be wearing a Pirate uniform again. I think I look pretty good in the black and gold after all these years."

Parker had been estranged from the Pittsburgh organization until Willie Stargell returned to the Pirates in 1997 as a special adviser to former general manager Cam Bonifay.

Stargell, who had a Hall of Fame career as a player with the Pirates from 1962-82, persuaded Parker to come back to Pittsburgh in 1999 to take part in ceremonies commemorating the 20th anniversary of the 1979 championship at Three Rivers Stadium.

"Willie was like a father to me," said Parker, who lives in his native Cincinnati, where he owns and operates two fast food restaurants. "When Willie came back to the Pirates, it made me realize again how much it meant to play with these guys. It's been good to come back and be involved with the Pirates on a limited basis. It's nice to come back to my baseball roots."

In other news, an MRI performed on second baseman Pokey Reese's sore right elbow revealed no structural damage. Reese has not played since Saturday and has been told to rest for three or four more days.

	Nen

San Francisco Giants: San Francisco closer Robb Nen showed signs on Thursday that his left ankle sprain may not be as bad as originally thought, though he will not throw off a mound for at least a week.

"Nen was much better than I expected," Giants trainer Stan Conte said. "He's walking pretty good, and the swelling is less than I feared. I'm very pleased with the first day. However with these injuries, they can often walk, but can't run or push off on that foot."

Nen was hurt during the ninth inning of a game against the Anaheim Angels on Wednesday when he caught his spikes in the grass while trying to cover first base.

"It feels a lot better," Nen said. "It would be nice if it wasn't there at all. But I definitely have a lot more movement than I thought I was going to have."

Nen did not use crutches on Thursday, and was able to walk without a noticeable limp.

"We're still pretty cautious because it is a high ankle sprain," Conte said. "It will be at least a week before he throws off a mound. He can walk without the crutches. Still, that's a long way from standing on the mound and throwing."

Nen will begin throwing on flat ground Friday -- even if he can't stand up -- to help maintain his arm strength.

Giants starter Jason Schmidt, who has a groin strain, will throw off flat ground on Friday as he continues to work toward another turn on the mound.

Giants second baseman Jeff Kent, who has a broken bone in his left wrist, went to Scottsdale Healthcare Hospital on Thursday to have the cast on his left wrist removed and an X-ray taken.

Seattle Mariners: -- The Seattle Mariners made 13 roster moves on Thursday, reducing their roster to 39 players.

The Mariners optioned right-handers Gil Meche and Jeff Heaverlo, left-hander Ryan Anderson and outfielder Kenny Kelly to Triple-A Tacoma.

Anderson, who is on the team's 40-man roster, will be lost for his second season in a row because of another shoulder injury. He will start the season on Tacoma's disabled list.

The Mariners optioned right-handers J.J. Putz, Allan Simpson and Rafael Soriano and infielders Willie Bloomquist and Antonio Perez to Double-A San Antonio.

Re-assigned to Seattle's minor league camp were right-hander Brian Falkenborg, catchers Blake Barthol and Ryan Christianson, and outfielder Juan LeBron.