Los Angeles 7, Houston 0
VERO BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Eric Gagne stepped in to pitch an inning for the second time this spring and starter Brett Tomko threw five scoreless innings as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Houston Astros 7-0 on Sunday. Gagne replaced Tomko in the sixth inning, throwing change-ups and fastballs to strike out two batters and walk a third. He allowed a single — his first hit of the spring. “I was fluid today but I didn’t throw enough strikes,” Gagne said, adding he still needed to refine his pitching mechanics. Gagne, recovering from a torn ligament in his right elbow, said diagnosing rough spots is part of a positive progression. Physically, he feels fine. “It’s not a step back, it’s a step forward. When you don’t do good, that’s when you go in and make adjustments,” Gagne said. “You’ve got to learn from it, and you’ve got to know where your mechanics are and what you need to do to make that adjustment.” Gagne, who debuted in the Grapefruit League against the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday, threw only five pitches to retire the side in the fifth inning. Dodgers manager Grady Little said he was pleased with Gagne’s performance against the Astros. “We’re still at a point in time where we’re just mainly concerned with him busting loose all the adhesions that could be left in there from his injury, and I think that’s about done,” Little said. “He pitched some outstanding change-ups and threw some good quality fastballs there.”
BOXSCORE
HOUSTON AB R H BI LA DODGERS AB R H BI
E Bruntlett 2b 3 0 2 0 T Abreu ss 4 3 2 0
C Jimerson rf 1 0 0 0 N Garciaparra 1b 3 1 1 0
M Lamb 1b 3 0 0 0 R Martin c 1 0 0 0
E Munson 1b 0 0 0 0 J Drew rf 3 0 2 2
J Lane rf 2 0 0 0 J Repko rf 1 1 1 2
A Zinter 3b 1 0 0 0 J Kent 2b 3 1 1 2
K Orie 3b 3 0 0 0 W Aybar 2b 2 0 1 0
B Conrad 2b 0 0 0 0 O Saenz dh 2 0 0 0
J Peguero ph 1 0 0 0 A Laroche dh 2 0 0 0
B Zobrist ss 3 0 1 0 B Mueller 3b 2 0 0 0
L Scott lf 3 0 0 0 O Robles 3b 0 0 0 0
B Gordon lf 0 0 0 0 J Loney ph 0 0 0 0
H Quintero c 2 0 1 0 M Kemp cf 3 0 0 1
H Gimenez c 1 0 0 0 A Ethier lf 3 0 2 0
R Chavez dh 2 0 0 0 J Guzman lf 1 0 0 0
J House ph 1 0 0 0 S Alomar Jr c 3 0 0 0
J Anderson cf 2 0 0 0 R Martin c 1 0 0 0
M Rodriguez cf 1 0 0 0
TOTALS 29 0 4 0 TOTALS 34 6 10 7
HOUSTON 000 000 000 – 0
LA DODGERS 101 020 12x – 7
E–A Zinter, N Garciaparra. DP–LA DODGERS 2.
LOB–HOUSTON 4, LA DODGERS 10. 2B–T Abreu. 3B–J
Drew. HR–J Kent 1 (1) (off M Gallo). SB–A Ethier
1 (2). CS–E Bruntlett. SF–M Kemp.
IP H R ER BB SO HR
HOUSTON
T Buchholz (L,1-1) 4 6 2 2 0 0 0
M Gallo 1 1 2 2 3 0 1
F Nieve 3 4 3 2 2 0 0
LA DODGERS
B Tomko (W,2-0) 5 3 0 0 0 4 0
E Gagne 1 1 0 0 1 2 0
Y Brazoban 1 0 0 0 0 3 0
F Osoria 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
H Kuo 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
HBP–E Munson by H Kuo. SO–HOU: M Lamb 2, R
Chavez, E Bruntlett, J Lane, L Scott, H Gimenez, J
Anderson, B Zobrist. BB–HOU: J Lane. LOS: O
Saenz, J Loney, O Robles, J Repko, T Abreu.
T–2:20. A–4,672.
