Yanks' Rivera is perfect in spring debut vs. Tribe

Cleveland, Pittsburgh split squads each had split results Monday.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
TAMPA, Fla. -- Mariano Rivera hardly looked like a pitcher who didn't pick up a baseball all winter.
Refreshed and well-rested, the New York Yankees' closer looked strong in his spring debut Monday, working one perfect inning in a 3-1 split-squad loss to the Cleveland Indians.
Rivera threw 10 pitches, seven for strikes, and retired the side on a grounder to short and two fly balls to right.
Right-hander Jaret Wright, signed as a free agent in December after winning 15 games with Atlanta in 2004, also made his debut for the Yankees. He allowed one hit and struck out one in two scoreless innings.
The Indians scored twice in the seventh off Steve Karsay, who yielded RBI doubles to Casey Blake and Ryan Ludwick. The Yankees scored their lone run off Cleveland starter Jake Westbrook when Alex Rodriguez grounded into a double play in the third.
Tanyon Sturtze worked three scoreless innings, allowing three hits, and Mike Stanton pitched a perfect ninth in his spring debut.
Blue Jays 12, Indians (ss) 9
DUNEDIN, Fla. -- Kevin Millwood was hit hard in his first start for Cleveland, giving up five runs and seven hits in one inning.
Miguel Batista pitched two hitless innings for the Blue Jays and Gabe Gross hit his third homer of the spring.
Toronto's Raul Tablado and Cleveland's Kevin Kouzmanoff also homered.
Pirates (ss) 12, Reds (ss) 1
SARASOTA, Fla. -- Josh Hancock, held out of Cincinnati's previous games with a sore left hip muscle, pitched two scoreless innings in his first spring start.
Pittsburgh scored six runs on six hits in the third inning off Reds reliever and losing pitcher Jose Acevedo. Daryle Ward hit a two-run double that scored Tike Redmond, who singled twice, and Rob Mackowiak. Jose Bautista then singled to put runners on first and third. One out later, Acevedo surrendered successive RBI singles to Jose Castillo, Cesar Crespo and pitcher Ian Snell. Snell was the winning pitcher, working two scoreless innings on three hits.
The Pirates put the game away with five runs against Jared Fernandez in the seventh inning.
Reds (ss) 10, Pirates (ss) 2
BRADENTON, Fla. -- Todd Ritchie won 15 games for the Pirates in 1999. Now he's just trying to make the team as their fifth starter.
Ritchie didn't help his cause Monday when he gave up three runs -- one earned -- and four hits in two innings.
Rob Stratton, a non-roster outfielder with 180 homers in nine minor league seasons, hit two homers and drove in four runs to lead a Cincinnati split squad.
Stratton went 3-for-5 with a three-run homer to left-center in the fifth inning and a solo shot down the left-field line in the ninth.
Craig Wilson hit a solo homer in the second, but the Pirates didn't get another hit until the ninth. Jon Nunnally doubled and scored on Nate McLouth's RBI single.