Indians batter way past Atlanta, 12-4

Pittsburgh suffered an 8-5 loss to the Minnesota Twins.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
WINTER HAVEN, Fla. -- John Smoltz held Cleveland scoreless for three innings, but the Indians rallied past the Atlanta Braves 12-4 on Friday.
Aaron Boone had three hits, Lou Merloni a three-run homer and Casey Blake a solo shot for Cleveland. Michael Ryan hit a two-run homer for Atlanta.
Smoltz, who saw his 2005 season end painfully, allowed two hits and struck out three in his first spring outing against a big league team. Five days ago, he pitched two hitless innings against the Netherlands team as it geared up for the World Baseball Classic.
"I'm getting there," said Smoltz. "I've made an adjustment and my body just has to get used to it. I'll go four [innings] next time and just try to put it together little by little."
Indians starter Jake Westbrook gave up one run over four innings. The right-hander allowed five hits and struck out two.
"Jake was scheduled for three but able to go four," manager Eric Wedge said. "He kept his sinker down and looked real good."
Merloni, trying to gain a roster spot after missing most of 2005 with an ankle injury, hit his three-run homer in Cleveland's eight-run seventh.
"I just want to stay healthy and play," said the veteran infielder. "I don't care if it is April, June or September -- I just want to help this team at some point."
Twins 8, Pirates 5
FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Minnesota's Jason Hart's first spring hit went over the wall. Just two years ago, swinging the bat seemed a distant activity.
Hart homered, Tony Batista had two hits and an RBI for the Twins.
"Whether it was a homer or not, it was nice to just put a good wood on the ball," said Hart, who snapped an 0-for-13 slump. "You're not really starting to press, because its just spring training. But when a few games go by, you're wanting to get that first hit."
Hart didn't get any hits at all in 2004. On March 9 of that year, Hart found out that his wife, Jenny, was pregnant with their first child. Just one week later, he found out that he had a brain tumor the size of a baseball.
"I just wanted to be able to hold my kid," said Jason, who was a Triple-A player in the Texas Rangers' organization at the time. "My first priority was my family."
Nate McLouth and Jose Batista each hit solo home runs for the Pirates. Jack Wilson went 0-for-2 in his spring training debut following surgery to remove wisdom teeth on March 1.
"He played terrific," manager Jim Tracy said.
"Like he hadn't missed a beat. He handled the ground balls in the field flawlessly, just like I've seen him do for a number of years."