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Baltimore Orioles: Bruce Chen finished off a scoreless spring and locked up a spot in the Orioles' rotation in the process.

	Chen

Chen pitched five scoreless innings and Luis Matos drove in the winning run with a triple in the ninth inning as Baltimore beat St. Louis 3-1 Friday night at the SBC Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City.

Chen, who was competing with Rick Bauer for the fifth spot in Baltimore's rotation, gave up only a single and a walk. He allowed only five hits in 14 2/3 scoreless innings this spring.

"He learned how to pitch," Orioles manager Lee Mazzilli said. "The sequence was good, and he had good selection on how he pitched his guys. He has an idea of exactly what he wants to do. That's why he's my fifth starter."

It was Chen's first start of the spring after five relief appearances, but the 27-year-old left-hander said he felt he was ready to start every five days.

"I feel like my arm is strong enough and I feel like I'm going to be able to start," Chen said. "Whatever they want me to do, I'm going to help this team."

Seattle Mariners: Manager Mike Hargrove said he expects closer Eddie Guardado, slowed much of spring training because of a hamstring injury, to be available on Opening Day Monday. Guardado pitched an inning in a minor league game Friday.

"I'm ready to go right now," Guardado told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. "I felt good coming off the mound and there was no pain. I didn't feel it at all. I felt like a cat."

The Mariners claimed infielder Wilson Valdez on waivers from the Mets and placed him on their 40-man roster. The Mariners placed right-hander Rafael Soriano, who is recovering from ligament replacement elbow surgery, on the 60-day DL.

The Mariners now have 37 players in their major league camp: 28 roster players; six nonroster invitees; Soriano; and left-hander Travis Blackley and designated hitter Bucky Jacobsen, who are on the 60-day DL.

Nomar's kid brother wins it: Michael Garciaparra's 10th-inning single drove in Greg Dobbs with the winning run as Seattle beat the Cubs 5-4 in Las Vegas.

Garciaparra, a minor league infielder brought up for the exhibition by the Mariners, is the younger brother of Cubs' shortstop Nomar Garciaparra.

Ichiro Suzuki, who had hit safely in all 19 previous spring games he had played, went 0-for-5.

Oakland Athletics: Kirk Saarloos pitched five shutout innings in a 4-3, 10-inning loss to the Giants to improve his chances of winning Oakland's final rotation spot. He also drove in the Athletics' first run.

"I thought I had my best outing in my last start," Saarloos said. "I had too many balls up in the zone tonight but I was getting outs. I wanted to pitch well in my final starts to give them as much as possible to make that decision."

Saarloos drove in Oakland's first run when he swung through a bunt sign and lined a single to left field that scored Mark Ellis from second base.

Manager Ken Macha held Keith Ginter out of the game as a precautionary move after the second baseman needed seven stitches to close a good-sized gash on his right shin after he was spiked by San Francisco's Jason Ellison on Thursday night.

Ellison went over to the A's locker room before the game Friday to apologize to Ginter for the incident. "It was the first time I ever spiked anyone," Ellison said. "I just wanted him to know I felt badly about what happened."

Injured Crosby shaken up: Oakland shortstop Bobby Crosby acknowledged that he was pretty scared after getting hit on the left hand in Arizona on Wednesday.

"It flipped me out," Crosby said. "The MRI that I took last night showed that I had a pretty good bruise to the area but no break. They're holding me out from tonight's game and probably tomorrow's game, but on Monday I'll be in there."

Oakland opens the regular season at Baltimore on Monday.

Arizona Diamondbacks: Brad Halsey beat out Michael Gosling for the final spot in Arizona's rotation.

Halsey, acquired from the Yankees in the Randy Johnson trade, is to make his first start April 11 at home against Colorado.

Gosling wound up an impressive spring by holding Cubs regulars to one run and five hits in four innings Thursday in a split-squad game. He will start the season as a long reliever.

Both are 24-year-old left-handers. Gosling had a 3.22 ERA in 22 1/3 innings to Halsey's 4.50 ERA in 22 innings. Each struck out 10. Gosling walked nine and Halsey eight.

"They both did enough to make the team," manager Bob Melvin said.

Pittsburgh Pirates: Pirates manager Lloyd McClendon made a surprise adjustment, moving Tike Redman into the No. 3 spot in the batting order.

Jason Bay was expected to bat third after hitting .282 with 26 homers and 82 RBI last season as the NL Rookie of the Year. But when Bay missed most of the exhibition schedule with a bruised wrist bone, McClendon liked how Redman adjusted to the third spot.

Redman, the Pirates' center fielder most of the last two seasons, didn't hit third in any of the 134 games he started last season. The lefthanded-hitting Redman led off 39 times, hit second once, sixth 52 times, seventh 29 times and eighth 13 times.

"Tike can hit," McClendon said Friday. "If we can get the guys with the highest batting averages and on-base percentages closer to the top of the order, the better chance we have of getting something going. We've got to score more runs."

For now, right fielder Matt Lawton will lead off, with shortstop Jack Wilson second, Redman third, left fielder Bay fourth and first baseman Craig Wilson fifth, followed by third baseman Ty Wigginton, second baseman Jose Castillo and catcher Benito Santiago.

Washington Nationals: Vinny Castilla, who played for the first time in 13 days Thursday, expects to be ready for the opener Monday.

"It feels good," Castilla told the Washington Post after going 0-3. "I'm seeing the ball good. That's a good feeling. I swing at pitches good. I lay off tough pitches. That's how you want to be a few days before the season."

Joe Grzenda, meanwhile, will be involved in the ceremonial first pitch April 14, when the Nationals bring baseball back to Washington, D.C.

The relief pitcher was unable to record the final out for the Washington Senators because fans stormed the field in 1971 and the Senators had to forfeit.

He kept the baseball, and is expected to hand it to President George Bush for the first pitch, according to the Baltimore Sun.

Bye-bye Baerga: Infielder Carlos Baerga was reassigned to the Nationals' minor league camp and will try to catch on with another team.

The move got the Nationals active roster down to the 25-man limit. The final spot goes to infielder Tony Blanco, selected from Cincinnati in the winter meeting draft.

Blanco, 23, has never played in the majors. Baerga, 36, is a three-time All-Star who played 13 major league seasons with six teams. He hit .235 with two home runs and 11 RBI last year for Arizona and joined the Nationals on Feb. 21 with a minor league contract.

"Blanco's a young guy, and he was a Rule 5. And if you see this organization, they don't have that kind of talent in the organization right now, so they don't want to throw it away," Baerga said. "They told me that was the reason they had to let me go. It was the only spot that they had."

Baerga said he would talk to his agent about trying to find a job elsewhere.

Toronto Blue Jays: Right-hander Kerry Ligtenberg was released, and the Blue Jays placed left-hander Ted Lilly on the 15-day disabled list.

Ligtenberg, 33, is owed $2.5 million by the Blue Jays. He was 1-0 with a 4.50 ERA in eight spring training games after going 1-6 with three saves and a 6.38 ERA in 57 games last season.

Lilly, 29, has not pitched this year because of left shoulder tendinitis. He was 12-10 with a 4.07 ERA last season. He lasted just six pitches in a minor league start before getting hit on the ankle Thursday. X-rays were negative.

The move is retroactive to March 25.

Detroit Tigers: Bobby Higginson has gone from trade bait to potential Opening Day right fielder.

Manager Alan Trammell told the Detroit Free Press that Higginson's play has earned him a spot on the 25-man roster, and the outfielder might have earned the start.

"I'm confident he's a good fit for us as an extra outfielder," Trammell told the paper.

Of the potential start, Higginson said: "That would be really special for me."

Philadelphia Phillies: Veteran infielder Jose Offerman's contract was purchased, completing the Phillies' 25-man roster.

Offerman, who signed a minor league contract in the offseason, is hitting .300 (14-for-47) with six RBI this spring. He is joining his sixth major league club.

The Phillies also placed right-hander Vicente Padilla on the disabled list retroactive to March 25. He will be eligible to come off on April 9.

Padilla, who was sidelined with triceps tendinitis, is scheduled to pitch in a Triple-A game in Clearwater, Fla. on Saturday. Barring any setbacks, Padilla will start Class A Clearwater's season opener next Thursday and be evaluated afterward.

Left-hander Randy Wolf pitched 4 2/3 scoreless innings in a minor-league game on Friday. He's slated to start Philadelphia's game against Washington next Thursday.

Also, right-hander Amaury Telemaco cleared waivers on Friday and became a free agent.

Kansas City Royals: The Royals placed third baseman Chris Truby and right-handed reliever Scott Sullivan on the DL.

Truby chipped a bone in his left wrist in the Royals' first exhibition game on March 4. He remained in Arizona to work out and will attempt to take swings with a bat next week. He is expected to be out several weeks.

Sullivan reported late to spring training with a lingering back injury that landed him on the disabled list at the end of last season, and did not play in any exhibition games.

Sullivan, who also remained in Arizona to continue working out, has utilized a sidearm delivery for most of his eight years in the majors. He is working on an over-the-top delivery to take pressure off his back.

He was 3-4 with a 4.77 ERA in 49 relief appearances last year with the Royals.

Minnesota Twins: Minnesota Wild radio play-by-play man Bob Kurtz will replace Bob Casey behind the mike at the Metrodome for Twins games this season.

Casey, the only public address announcer the 44-year-old franchise has ever had, died last weekend. Kurtz will handle the stadium public address duties for 2005, and a permanent successor will be named later.

Kurtz was a television play-by-play announcer for the Twins from 1979-86 and Minnesota North Stars from 1979-84 and 1987-88. He has done Wild radio broadcasts on WCCO-AM since the team began playing in 2000.

"I'm honored and humbled that the Twins considered me for these responsibilities this season," said Kurtz. "Whoever said, 'Everyone's replaceable,' surely never met Bob Casey."

Cleveland Indians: The Indians plan to return to Winter Haven, Fla., for spring training next year instead of moving to Arizona or another Florida location.

Bob DiBiasio, team vice president for public relations, said the team still was considering other spring training locations in Florida and Arizona for after 2006.

Cleveland is negotiating with the Disney Corp. about a new facility in the Orlando area. The Indians would share the Braves' ballpark in Kissimmee.

The Indians drew 64,329 in 14 exhibition games this season in Winter Haven. Last year, Cleveland Indians drew 75,082 in 15 home spring training dates.