Thursday’s Grapefruit League games | Indians and Pirates

Rays 4, Indians 4, 10 innings

WINTER HAVEN, Fla. — Even though B.J. Upton left with an injury and Tampa Bay gave up a ninth-inning lead, Rays manager Joe Maddon was upbeat following the tie. Upton was hit just above the left elbow by a pitch from Paul Byrd in the first inning. “We think he’s going to be fine,” Maddon said. “Injuries happen and you just hope for the best.” Maddon said the club will give Upton all the time he needs to get healthy. Upton, the second overall pick in the 2002 draft, entered hitting .357 with one homer and nine RBIs in 13 spring games. He was in the lineup as the DH, batting in the cleanup spot. The 23-year-old Upton hit .300 with 24 homers and 82 RBIs last year. “I was trying to throw a sinker away and missed by about five feet,” Byrd said. “I know he likes to hit fastballs away, so I overthrew it. I hope he’s OK.” Byrd allowed eight hits and four runs over six innings and felt so strong afterward that he went to the bullpen and threw another 18 pitches. “If the season started right now, I’m ready,” said the 37-year-old right-hander who took the mound for Cleveland’s home opener last April in the middle of a blizzard. “I’m ready for anything from 25 degrees to 85 degrees. Let’s go.” Andy Gonzalez’s fourth homer, a two-run shot, gave Cleveland a 2-0 lead in the second off Jason Hammel. Solo shots off Byrd by Dioner Navarro in the third and Jon Weber in the fourth tied it. The Indians tied it in the ninth on a sacrifice fly by Josh Barfield off Jeff Niemann. It was the first run yielded by the fourth overall pick in the 2004 draft in four spring innings.

Phillies 3, Pirates 0

CLEARWATER, Fla. — A prank trade to Japan didn’t shake Kyle Kendrick’s confidence as much as a pair of rough outings did. He seems back on track now, so the Philadelphia Phillies don’t have to consider keeping him under close surveillance. “We had to watch him on the Skyway bridge there for a while,” pitching coach Rich Dubee joked after Kendrick pitched five scoreless innings. Kendrick came out of nowhere last year to bail out a depleted rotation and help the Phillies win the NL East title. He went 10-4 with a 3.87 ERA in 20 starts after getting called up from Double-A Reading in mid-June. But Kendrick’s first major league camp didn’t start off well. First, he was the victim of a clever clubhouse prank that included teammate Brett Myers, manager Charlie Manuel and assistant general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. Kendrick was called into the manager’s office during the first week of spring training and informed he was traded to a Japanese team. The well-orchestrated joke got national attention, and everyone wanted to interview the gullible Kendrick. When the games started, Kendrick struggled. The 23-year-old right-hander was hit hard in his second and third outings. He gave up seven runs and nine hits in 22‚Ñ3 innings against Atlanta, and six runs and seven hits in two innings against Toronto on March 9. Getting smacked around left Kendrick doubting himself a bit. After all, he didn’t have that much trouble getting hitters out as a rookie. “It was a shock to me,” Kendrick said. Dubee saw Kendrick feeling down, so he pulled him aside and gave him a stern lecture. “I was never concerned,” Dubee said. “I’m getting closer,” Kendrick said. “I’m not there. Overall it was a good outing.” Ryan Howard, Geoff Jenkins and Pedro Feliz each hit solo homers off Pirates starter Ian Snell. After Kendrick departed, Clay Condrey, J.D. Durbin and Tom Gordon held the Pirates to two hits over four innings.

Associated Press