By Times staff writers, Associated Press
Published March 26, 2004
CLEARWATER - Phillies first baseman Jim Thome's fractured right middle finger is healing so well that plans keep changing.
Thome played in a game Thursday for the first time since his March 5 injury, going 1-for-3 with a walk in a Triple-A exhibition against the Yankees at the Phillies' minor-league complex. That wasn't enough for Thome, who is feeling so good he talked his way into his first Grapefruit League at-bat since March 4.
So Thome grabbed his bat bag, jogged a few dozen yards from the Carpenter Complex to Bright House Networks Field, then flied out to centerfield as a pinch-hitter in the seventh inning of the Phillies' 9-0 loss to the Yankees.
BAD LINE, GOOD DAY: Statistically, Phillies starter Eric Milton was roughed up, allowing seven runs, six earned, on six hits and two walks over 31/3 innings. The Phillies, however, say two questionable calls by plate umpire Phil Cuzzi led to the Yankees taking a 5-0 first-inning lead.
With two outs and two on in the first, Milton thought an 0-and-2 breaking ball to Hideki Matsui should have been called strike three. After it wasn't, Matsui hit a two-run double. After Andy Phillips walked, Enrique Wilson hit a drive to left that was ruled a homer even though the ball appeared to land foul.
- RANDY MILLER
Lilly to stretch out
ST. PETERSBURG - Ted Lilly made his first appearance of the spring Wednesday with two innings against the Phillies. He is scheduled to go four against the Phillies on Sunday.
Blue Jays general manager J.P. Ricciardi believes that day will give him a better indication if the left-hander is on track to make his first start of the regular season, April 7 against Detroit.
"When Lilly pitches Sunday it will give us a better idea if he can go the seventh (of April)," Ricciardi said Thursday. "We'll see how he responds when we stretch him out, if he's ready to go six innings."
- MIKE RUTSEY
A-Rod unaffected
TAMPA - With a welt under his eye but his swing as sweet as ever, Alex Rodriguez said he expects no lingering problems from getting hit in the cheek by a baseball.
"My vision's all right," the Yankees third baseman said Thursday. "I see the ball fine, and I'm moving okay."
LAMB TRADED: New York traded third baseman Mike Lamb, made expendable by the deal for Rodriguez, to the Astros for minor-league right-hander Juan DeLeon.
