FORT MYERS, Fla. — Joe Nathan appears to have avoided the problem that struck John Lackey the past two years — a troublesome spring training injury.
The Minnesota Twins closer should be "fine" after leaving Saturday's 9-3
loss to the Boston Red Sox with soreness and tightness in his
surgically repaired right elbow, manager Ron Gardenhire said.
Lackey made his first appearance for Boston since signing a
five-year, $82.5 million contract as a free agent from the Los Angeles
Angels. He retired the side in order in the first two innings, throwing
20 pitches.
It was an encouraging start after injuries late in spring training
the past two years landed him on the disabled list for the start of the
regular season.
"It's something that I've taken into account working out, trying to
strengthen my arm a lot more and being a little more careful in my
throwing program," he said.
Lackey was the Angels' top starter but said he's content to be No. 3
behind Josh Beckett and Jon Lester.
"I'm not worried about that," Lackey said. "If the roles were
reversed, and I would have stayed in Anaheim and one of those guys would
have came over there, I would expect to still be going first. I think
those guys have earned the right, won a lot of games. … I'm OK with
that."
He's also fit in comfortably with his new teammates.
"It's been fun competing against them over (with the Angels) and it's
going to be even more fun competing with them," Lackey said.
The Red Sox trailed 3-2 after 6 1/2 innings then took advantage of
poorly located pitches and defensive problems by Minnesota to score four
runs in the seventh and three in the eighth.
Boston had taken a 2-0 lead in the fourth against Glen Perkins, who replaced Nathan the previous inning. Gil Velazquez singled in the first run and Mike Cameron hit a sacrifice fly. Perkins finished last season in the minors after going on the disabled list Aug. 11 with tendinitis in his left shoulder but said he felt good Saturday.
The Twins cut the lead to 2-1 on an RBI double by Wilson Ramos in the sixth then went ahead 3-2 in the seventh on Danny Valencia's RBI double and a run-scoring wild pitch by Joe Nelson, who ended up with the win.
Boston regained the lead when Tug Hulett hit a three-run homer in a four-run seventh against loser Jeff Manship.
Notes
Twins starter Francisco Liriano struck out three and allowed a run and a hit in two innings. He was Minnesota's opening day starter last year but finished the season at 5-13 with a 5.80 ERA. Velazquez, Aaron Bates and Nate Spears each had two hits for the Red Sox. … The Tampa Bay Rays beat a Boston split squad 6-4 in Port Charlotte, Fla.