threw three perfect innings for Minnesota. He was even happier to be
pitching pain-free.
Jacoby Ellsbury, Dustin Pedroia and
Kevin Youkilis drove in fifth-inning runs for the Boston Red Sox in a
6-4 victory over the Twins on Sunday, after Slowey's strong start.
After missing the last half of last
season with a right wrist injury that required surgery, Slowey is plenty
excited to be throwing well with opening day less than a month away.
"It's like being in Little League
again," Slowey said. "You just can't wait to get out there."
The Red Sox welcomed back captain
Jason Varitek, but scratched starter Josh Beckett because of an illness
he felt in the morning.
Minor league reliever Ryne Miller took
his place and gave up three first-inning runs and two hits and two
walks. The Red Sox used eight pitchers, but manager Terry Francona
wasn't concerned.
"He'll pitch again on his normal day,"
Francona said of Beckett. "It might cost him getting stretched out by
one inning. He wasn't feeling well. He'll just stay right on his
schedule. The biggest thing is for him to get himself better."
Varitek, who had missed his team's
first 10 spring games while tending to a family matter, struck out and
was hit by a pitch. He caught four innings.
"You're getting your body acclimated
to playing along with seeing a lot of new arms," Varitek said. "That was
a little bit different. You try to kind of be a little more aware."
Varitek said his timing was off.
"Probably not very good right now,"
Varitek said. "I've missed about 10 days of at-bats, and now I'm doing
things for the first time. I'll try to be back on track. It's exciting
to be back out there."
Slowey struck out four, including
David Ortiz, who is 1-for-19 this spring.
"I've still got some things to work
on," said Slowey, who has thrown nine scoreless innings in three starts
with eight strikeouts and one walk. "But it was a good outing again. It
felt good. It's nice to be able to go out there and not have to worry
about anything hurting."
Slowey went 10-3 in 16 starts with a
4.86 ERA last season before being sidelined.
Manager Ron Gardenhire was impressed
with Sunday's outing.
"Slowey was great," Gardenhire said.
"He was throwing the ball fantastic. In control, the ball moved real
well."
Twins catcher Joe Mauer was held out
for the second game with a sore right shoulder. He said the injury is
not a concern and that he would've played if this were the regular
season. Gardenhire also scratched first baseman Justin Morneau from the
lineup with general soreness.
"We decided to shut them down for a
couple of days," Gardenhire said. "We're not going to push it. It's not
going to happen."
Notes
Twins bench coach Steve Liddle
has returned home from the hospital and has been cleared to return to
the team. He had been hospitalized with chest pains on Friday. … Twins
closer Joe Nathan, who might miss the season with an elbow injury, did
not work out with the team Sunday because of an illness. … Red Sox IF
Jed Lowrie is out with an illness. "He just wasn't feeling real good,"
Francona said. "So we had him checked out by the doctor. We just want to
run him through some tests before we get him back on the field. We've
been doing that the last couple of days."