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Baseball

Matsui homers in U.S. debut

TAMPA -- One of the Yankees' new foreign players claimed to be taking it slow, and another may have been trying too hard. Their were worlds apart in the spring opener against Cincinnati.

Japanese power hitter Hideki Matsui wacked a two-run homer out of rightfield in his second at-bat, furthering the buzz among the Japanese media that has covered his every move since he arrived in the United States. Matsui went 1-for-3, collecting his first American home run in the rain on a 3-2 pitch from Jimmy Anderson.

The Reds beat the Yankees 9-3 in a game of which Yankees manager Joe Torre said, "A lot of good things happened."

The debut of Cuban pitcher Jose Contreras might have been an exception. He allowed five runs, including a grand slam by Adam Dunn, three hits and two walks in two innings.

"I think Contreras, more than anything, tried to just make too many quality pitches," Torre said. "I thought he was trying to be too fine."

For Matsui, whose debut was aired live at 3:15 a.m. in Japan, his reaction to his performance was stern and subdued as he cautioned reporters and fans not to get carried away with what he thought was a lucky break.

SORIANO SITS: Yankees second baseman Alfonso Soriano did not play because of mild soreness in his right shoulder.

GRUDEN PITCHES: Buccaneers coach Jon Gruden threw out the first pitch.

TODAY: The Yankees continue their spring schedule today against Philadelphia at 1:05 p.m. at Jack Russell Stadium in Clearwater. David Wells is expected to start for the Yankees.

-- EMILY NIPPS

Thome hits it deep

BRADENTON -- The legend of Jim Thome grew at McKechnie Field when he started the his first exhibition season with the Phillies by hitting an opposite-field home run off Pittsburgh's Jeff D'Amico.

The home run came 10 days after he dropped jaws at the Carpenter Complex by hitting a ball an estimated 5381/2 feet.

Thome downplayed the batting-practice home run off manager Larry Bowa but admitted he was a little astonished starting the spring with a home run in the Phillies' 6-3 win over the Pirates.

He said as he rounded the bases he thought to himself, "Wow, awesome, cool."

His manager and teammates had similar thoughts.

"He hit a pretty good pitch, too," Bowa said. "It was a changeup down and away. That will take some of the heat off him, because I know if he was 0-for-1 some people in Philly would have been panicky."

Left-hander Randy Wolf, who pitched a perfect inning for the Phillies, was thrilled to see the first-inning run. Last season Wolf went 11-9 despite a 3.20 ERA. He was the victim of the sixth-worst run support in baseball.

"That's all in the past," Wolf said. "I'm looking forward to playing the whole season with Jim. He's in the upper echelon of power hitters, and he's such a cool guy. He's going to give us a chance to do some extremely special things in Philadelphia. Playing in October is our goal. His presence and his play will help our chances."

TODAY: The Phillies play a pair of games. Kevin Millwood makes his Phillies debut against the Yankees at 1:05 at Jack Russell Stadium, and Joe Roa pitches against the Braves at 1:05 in Lake Buena Vista.

-- BOB BROOKOVER

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