Spring Training Capsules: Guerrero says no hard feelings against Angels

Texas' aging slugger is focused more on staying on the field, insisting before his first spring game against the Los Angeles Angels that he has no hard feelings for his former team.

"I just want God to keep me healthy and whatever happens happens," Guerrero said Monday through an interpreter. "I always smile, I'm always happy. I try not to change."

Guerrero went 1 for 2 in the Rangers' 13-9 loss. He had a deep flyout on the first pitch he saw and later a bloop single. He then scored from first on Ian Kinsler's double into the left-field corner.

"He looked great. He really was running well, he looks in good shape, hit the ball well," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "Last year, he just got behind (with injuries). ... He was swimming upstream for a long time. But you can see when he's healthy, he still does it."

The Angels showed little interest in retaining the eight-time All-Star and former American League MVP after he had two stints on the disabled list last season for a torn right pectoral muscle and strained left knee.

After the Angels signed free-agent Hideki Matsui and kept Bobby Abreu, the 35-year-old Guerrero got a one-year contract with the AL West-rival Rangers that guarantees him $6.5 million and includes a mutual option for 2011.

"Sometimes you think a lot," Guerrero said when asked if it was difficult to leave the Angels. "But I feel good here."

Guerrero will be primarily a designated hitter for the Rangers, though he will play a few games in right field.

Facing Ervin Santana in the first, Guerrero drove the first pitch to deep right field. Terry Evans leaped near the wall to make the catch.

"It was fun. I can't hold my laugh, but still got him out," said Santana, adding that his former teammate also was laughing when he stepped to the plate. "If he elevated it a little bit more, yeah, it's going out. ... The only way to get him out is throw it right in the middle."

Santana pitched two scoreless innings in his first spring start, allowing only a single to Josh Hamilton.

Hamilton was 2 for 3 with a run scored in his first spring game after being limited by a bruised left shoulder. He was injured when he fell down going for a popup during drills Feb. 24. He caught two fly balls in left field against the Angels.

"Body-wise, I felt good. At bat, I felt great," Hamilton said. "I felt like I really hadn't missed any time. I felt calm at the plate, I felt like I was under control, felt like I saw the ball good out of the pitcher's hand."

Guerrero insists he doesn't know if the Angels tried to keep him.

"I felt good playing with them," Guerrero said. "I played well when I was there."

Guerrero helped lead the Angels to five AL West titles during his six seasons in Southern California, winning the AL MVP award in 2004. He began his career in Montreal and is a .321 hitter with 407 homers and 1,318 RBIs in 1,850 games.

Guerrero is a .396 career hitter against Texas, and has 14 homers and 33 RBIs in 50 games at Rangers Ballpark.

"He's a difference maker. His asset to us is his bat and as often as we can get him out there and use it, I want to. He's been good," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "He's not limping. He certainly draws a crowd, a crowd of his teammates. He talks to them a lot, something he doesn't do a whole lot of, and I think his teammates are drawing it out of him."

Hampered by injuries last season, Guerrero hit .295 with 15 homers and 50 RBIs in 100 games, his lowest totals since he was a rookie for the Expos in 1997.

"Last year because of the knee surgery, I couldn't do the same things to prepare," he said. "This year, I just do the normal things and work hard to be ready for the season. I feel good."

There also was another significant offseason change for Guerrero, who became a U.S. citizen on the same day he reported to Rangers camp. The Dominican Republic native was sworn in as a U.S. citizen in Los Angeles on Feb. 19.

Guerrero said being a citizen makes it easier for his mother — who constantly cooks meals for her son, his teammates and other Dominican players — to travel in the United States.

"She was in the Dominican during the offseason," he said. "Now she is here for spring training."

NOTES: Angels 1B Kendry Morales, who was a week late reporting to camp while waiting for immigration paperwork to be completed, had two RBI singles in his spring debut. ... Mike Napoli and Brandon Wood homered for Los Angeles. ... Rangers RHP Colby Lewis threw 20 of his 26 pitches for strikes, but gave up the homer to Napoli on a curveball. ... Texas starter Brandon McCarthy allowed a walk and three singles to the first four batters. He struck out two and gave up two runs in two innings.

Arencibia homers for Jays in 4-1 win over Astros

KISSIMMEE, Fla. — Toronto manager Cito Gaston thinks Ricky Romero is a much improved pitcher now that he has some experience.

The 25-year-old left-hander pitched three shutout innings, allowing four hits and striking out two in the Blue Jays' 4-1 win over the Houston Astros on Monday.

Rivera went 13-9 in 29 starts as a rookie last season. He strained an oblique muscle and missed 24 games early in the year but still pitched 178 innings, second on the team to ace Roy Halladay. With Halladay traded to Philadelphia, the more mature Romero could be the frontrunner to take over the No. 1 spot in the rotation.

"He's got experience," Gaston said. "It doesn't matter who you are, you're going to be a little bit nervous when you're pitching in the big leagues for the first time, or playing or going up to this. Now's he's got some experience behind him. He's been successful and he just gets better all the time."

J.P. Arencibia hit a solo homer off Houston starter Bud Norris in the first inning, and Lyle Overbay and Brad Emaus had RBI doubles off left-handed reliever Tim Byrdak for Toronto.

Norris, expected to fill the No. 4 spot in the Astros' rotation, allowed two hits and struck out two in two innings in his first start of the spring.

"You're just trying to get the cobwebs out," Norris said. "I've been doing this for a few years. I know what I'm doing pitching, and you just keep going through your routine. You're just trying to get your routine back in order."

John McDonald drove in a run with a single in the sixth off Houston lefty Gustavo Chacin. Houston's J.R Towles, trying to win the starting role at catcher, drove in the Astros' lone run in the eighth off Chad Jenkins.

Rivera allowed 79 walks in 2009, second in the AL. He hasn't allowed a single walk in two starts and five total innings this spring.

"He didn't throw a lot of balls, period," Gaston said of Monday's outing. "He just went out and pitched well here again."

Towles accounted for three of Houston's seven hits. The Astros averaged more than seven runs in their first four spring games before Rivera and Dana Eveland limited them to five hits through six scoreless innings.

"You'd like to see us be able to string some things together," Houston manager Brad Mills said. "Their two left-handers, Romero and Eveland, they kind of shut us down a little bit. They threw the ball real well."

NOTES: Zach Stewart pitched a scoreless ninth for Toronto to earn his first save of the spring. ... Towles is 8 for 12 this spring. He spent most of last season in the minors and hit .188 in 16 games with the Astros late in the season. ... The Blue Jays finished with 14 hits, after getting 13 in an 8-5 win over Detroit on Sunday. ... Toronto has an open date on Tuesday before facing Philadelphia in Dunedin on Wednesday. Brett Myers will make his second start for the Astros against the New York Mets in Port St. Lucie on Tuesday.

GOODYEAR, Ariz. — Cuban defector Aroldis Chapman hit 100 mph on radar guns during his spring training debut, throwing two scoreless innings for Cincinnati.

The 22-year-old left-hander threw at least three pitches that were clocked at 100 mph on scouts' radar guns behind home plate. Chapman entered the game in relief of Bronson Arroyo and gave up one hit, striking out three of the last four batters he faced.

The Reds signed Chapman to a six-year, $30.25 million deal in January.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Ryan Rohlinger singled in the winning run with two outs in the 10th inning for San Francisco.

Giants starter Barry Zito had better control in his second spring outing, allowing three hits in three innings.

Matt Kemp hit his first homer of the spring off Zito, and Chad Billingsley and Clayton Kershaw each pitched two solid innings for Los Angeles in their exhibition debuts.

Manny Ramirez was 0 for 2 and got hit by a pitch.

FORT MYERS, Fla. — Josh Beckett pitched three scoreless innings and struck out three, and Che-Shuan Lin hit a run-scoring single in the ninth inning to lift Boston.

Chris Carpenter, making his first appearance of the spring, went two innings for St. Louis. He gave up a run on four hits with a strikeout and no walks.

Three-time National League MVP Albert Pujols did not make the cross-state trip because of discomfort in his back. He is not expected to play Tuesday against the Minnesota Twins.

JUPITER, Fla. — John Maine struck out four of the eight batters he faced in his spring debut, and Chris Carter hit two ninth-inning homers for New York.

Maine allowed one run, two hits and one walk in 1 2-3 innings.

Carter began the ninth with a pinch-hit homer, then hit a three-run drive with two out.

Marlins second baseman Dan Uggla committed two errors on one play in the first inning, and Ryan Tucker gave up two runs in two innings.

TAMPA, Fla. — Javier Vazquez settled down after allowing a first-pitch homer to Jimmy Rollins, striking out four of his last five batters for a New York split squad.

Nick Swisher was 2 for 3 with 3 RBI, and Robinson Cano knocked in two runs for the Yankees.

Ryan Howard ended an 0 for 9 spring start with a single for the Phillies, and Kyle Kendrick pitched one-hit ball for three innings.

BRADENTON, Fla. — Alfredo Aceves tossed four perfect innings for New York, which put its first four batters on base and scored two runs off left-hander Paul Maholm.

In two outings this spring, both against the Pirates, Aceves has retired all 18 batters he's faced. The right-hander struck out three.

Maholm worked two innings, allowing three hits with two walks and a strikeout.

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. — Matt Garza pitched three scoreless innings, allowing three hits with five strikeouts, and Fernando Perez hit a two-out RBI single in the 10th for Tampa Bay.

Tampa Bay pushed across two runs in the seventh to tie it at 3. Matt Joyce and Sean Rodriguez had RBI singles.

Pittsburgh grabbed a 3-1 lead on Brian Friday's two-run homer off Jeff Bennett in the seventh.

PHOENIX — Ryan Dempster tossed two perfect innings in his spring debut, and Derrek Lee and Aramis Ramirez each drove in a run for the Cubs.

Ryan Theriot added two hits, walked once and scored twice.

Brett Anderson pitched 1 2-3 scoreless innings, and Kurt Suzuki and Josh Donaldson homered for the A's. Anderson allowed one hit, walked two and struck out three.

The Cubs scored seven runs in the seventh, sending 11 hitters to the plate.

LAKELAND, Fla. — Jason Heyward homered during a five-run first inning, and David Ross drove in four runs for Atlanta.

Detroit's Max Scherzer didn't get out of the first inning, giving up four hits and three walks to the eight batters he faced.

Atlanta starter Tim Hudson pitched three innings, giving up one run and striking out three. Troy Glaus and Eric Hinske each scored twice for Atlanta, and Mitch Jones homered.

VIERA, Fla. — Jorge Cantu hit a three-run homer in the first inning, and right-hander Ricky Nolasco worked three innings, allowing a run on four hits with five strikeouts.

Ronny Paulino had four hits for the Marlins.

Scott Olsen, making his first start since season-ending shoulder surgery last July, threw two innings for the Nationals and allowed seven hits and three runs.

Josh Willingham and Ryan Zimmerman homered for Washington.

SARASOTA, Fla. — Kevin Slowey and Nick Blackburn each threw three crisp innings for Minnesota, each allowing one hit with one walk and two strikeouts.

Slowey retired nine of his final 10 batters, while Blackburn also was sharp one day after he signed a $14 million, four-year contract.

Brian Matusz allowed two runs and three hits in 2 2-3 innings for Baltimore. He struck out six and walked one.

PEORIA, Ariz. — Jorge De La Rosa tossed three scoreless innings and Miguel Olivo had three hits and three RBIs to lead Colorado.

De La Rosa allowed one hit and one walk while striking out two.

Padres starting pitcher Kevin Correia yielded two runs on three hits in three innings.

Olivo, who also scored two runs, gave Colorado an early lead with a soaring two-run home run to left in the second inning. Shortstop Troy Tulowitzki added two hits and a run scored.

TUCSON, Ariz. — Jake Westbrook pitched 1 2-3 innings in his first game against major league hitters in almost two years.

Westbrook allowed one run and one hit, walked three and hit a batter in his first big league outing since undergoing Tommy John surgery in June 2008.

Michael Brantley went 3 for 4 with an RBI for Cleveland.

Rodrigo Lopez, a candidate for the No. 5 spot in Arizona's rotation, allowed a run in two innings.

GLENDALE, Ariz. — Matt Tuiasosopo had three hits, and Franklin Gutierrez and Chris Woodward each had a run-scoring sacrifice fly to lead Seattle.

Paul Konerko and Alex Rios connected for their first home runs of spring training for Chicago, but the pair of solo shots weren't enough to overcome Seattle's 11 hits.

Gavin Floyd struck out three in two innings of work for Chicago.

PHOENIX — Prince Fielder knocked in a pair of runs and Corey Hart hit a solo homer to lead Milwaukee.

The Brewers scored three times in the first inning off right-hander Doug Fister. Ryan Braun hit a run-scoring single and Fielder followed with an opposite-field double to left.

Left-hander Manny Parra maintained a scoreless string by Brewers starters in their first five games (2-3). Milwaukee starters have pitched 11 innings, giving up six hits while walking three and striking out six.