GRAPEFRUIT LEAGUE ROUNDUP Bucs & amp; Tribe

Indians 8, Braves 2
KISSIMMEE, Fla. -- Fausto Carmona pitched six hitless innings and the Cleveland Indians touched up Tim Hudson. Carmona walked three and struck out five. Hudson pitched three scoreless innings during his final outing of spring training before running into trouble in the fourth, when he gave up three runs. He issued consecutive walks and yielded a two-run single to Casey Blake. New Atlanta setup man Rafael Soriano gave up two-run homers to Trot Nixon and Blake in the fifth. Atlanta got its first hit in the eighth when Yunel Escobar opened the inning with a single off Jason Davis. Chris Woodward then doubled, and Doug Clark had a two-run single. Soriano's spring ERA rose from 1.13 to 5.00.
Phillies 5, Pirates 5
BRADENTON, Fla. -- Ryan Howard hasn't had much of a spring, especially for a National League MVP. One big swing gave him something to take north for the start of the season. Howard hit a long home run that landed on a practice field next to McKechnie Field, the first of successive homers by the Philadelphia Phillies off Pittsburgh starter Shawn Chacon in the third inning. With both clubs down to minor league pitchers, they decided not to play extra innings. Howard's drive to right-center easily cleared the wall and bounced off the infield of a diamond that is used for pregame fielding practice. Pat Burrell followed with another homer two pitches later. Howard had been only 1-for-21 and hadn't hit a homer since March 8, a slump that was bothering him even though the games don't count until next week. Howard, playing in his final Florida exhibition game, went 2-for-3 and is hitting .226 with three homers and 10 RBIs this spring -- well down from his second-season MVP numbers of .313, 58 homers and 149 RBIs. The Phillies flew home after the game and will play the Red Sox in exhibition games Friday and Saturday in Philadelphia. Jason Bay drove in two runs with a pair of doubles for the Pirates, who remain in Florida to play the Twins today in Bradenton and Saturday in Fort Myers.
Associated Press
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