Indians drop 4-3 contest to Astros

The Phillies handed the Pirates a 5-4 defeat.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

KISSIMMEE, Fla. — Roy Oswalt pitched two hitless innings and Houston newcomer Jose Valverde also started out well Friday as the Astros beat the Cleveland Indians 4-3.

Former AL MVP Miguel Tejada went 0-for-2 in his first spring training game for the Astros. He also made an error at shortstop.

The Astros rallied for two runs in the ninth, winning on Reggie Abercrombie’s RBI double.

Oswalt struck out two and was pleased his performance despite spending a lot of time behind in the count. He threw 22 strikes and 14 balls.

“The ball was coming out of my hand well,” he said. “I missed a few spots early in the count, but I was able to come back and work through it.”

Valverde, acquired from Arizona to be the Astros’ closer, struck out two in a hitless inning. He led the majors with 47 saves last year.

Indians starter Paul Byrd stuck with fastballs and allowed one run and four hits in two innings.

Japanese right-hander Masahide Kobayashi pitched in his first game for the Indians. He worked himself in and out of a bases-loaded jam, striking out Victor Diaz to escape.

Kobayashi signed a two-year contract with the Indians after nine seasons in the Japanese Pacific League. Cleveland got him to add depth to the bullpen behind closer Joe Borowski, who retired all three batters he faced in the third inning.

“He had good action on his pitches,” Cleveland manager Eric Wedge said. “It was pretty impressive the way he worked out of that jam.”

“We’ll probably mix Kobayashi in the sixth, seventh, eighth innings,” he said. “I have confidence anywhere we put him.”

Phillies 5, Pirates 4

BRADENTON, Fla. — Ian Snell helped get the Pittsburgh Pirates even with Ryan Howard.

A day after Howard boomed a home run off Pittsburgh’s Bryan Bullington, the Phillies slugger was hitless.

Snell started for the Pirates and pitched two scoreless innings. Howard went 0-for-3, including a groundout that ended the first inning.

Casey Smith hit a tie-breaking, solo home run with two outs in the Phillies ninth off Hector Carrasco. Smith also hit two doubles, including an RBI drive in the seventh.

Jack Wilson went 3-for-3 with a home run for Pittsburgh.