:Page8 SP www.sunnewspapers.net The Sun /Sunday, February 16, 2014


* MLB NOTEBOOK




CROWD PLEASER


Media throngs hit

Tampa as Tanaka

has first workout

 BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

 TAMPA As dozens of cam-
eras recorded his every move
and perhaps 150 media watched
on a cool and breezy morning,
Masahiro Tanaka slowly jogged
four laps on the warning track
around a back field following
his first official workout with the
New YorkYankees.
 The $155 million man looked
gassed. He may pitch great, but
Tanaka clearly was not born to
run.
 "I actually didn't know I was
going to run this much," he said
through a translator Saturday.
"And I'm a little bit of a slow
runner. But that part I really
can't help."
 The 25-year-old right-hander
jogged onto the field with Hiroki
Kuroda and played catch with


his 39-year-old countryman,
who is preparing for his seventh
U.S. season.
 Tanaka went 24-0 with a
1.27 ERA last year and led the
Rakuten Golden Eagles to their
first Japan Series title.

 Aaron has partial hip replace-
ment surgery: In Atlanta, Hall of Famer
Hank Aaron is recovering from a partial left
hip replacement. The Atlanta Braves said the
80-year-old Aaron fell on ice on Friday and had
the procedure later in the day.
 The Braves said Dr. Scott Gillogly, who
performed the procedure, says a full recovery is
expected.

 Indians beat Tomlin in arbitra-
tion, improve to 2-O: The Cleveland
Indians improved to 2-0 in salary arbitration
cases this year, defeating pitcher Josh Tomlin.
The 29-year-old right-hander will receive
$800,000 this year rather than his request for
$975,000.
 Others slated for hearings next week include
Atlanta closer Craig Kimbrel, Boston left-hander
Andrew Miller, Cincinnati right-hander Homer
Bailey, Oakland outfielder Josh Reddick and San
Francisco first baseman Brandon Belt.


 By JOSH VITALE
 SPORTS WRITER
 PORT CHARLOTTE -When
Erik Bedard threw his first bullpen
as a member of the Tampa Bay
Rays on Saturday, Joe Maddon
watched him closely. The Rays
manager has long been a fan of
the veteran lefty, and he was excit-
ed to see him as a member of his
team rather than as an opponent.
 "I was watching his delivery, and
it was very familiar to me from
when he pitched in Baltimore,"
Maddon said. "This guy has been
good. He's got some really good
ability."
 Saturday marked Bedard's first
day in uniform after spending
all winter as a free agent. Bedard
said there were multiple teams
interested in him, but the Rays
became his most aggressive
pursuer after projected fifth starter
Jeremy Hellickson underwent


RAYS

FROM PAGE 1
first workout of spring
training on Saturday, it
seemed as though that
work paid off. Hanigan
drew plenty of praise
from Maddon, who
was impressed with the
catcher's defensive game,
offensive skill and film
study habits.
 "Whether it's receiving,
throwing, calling a game,
blocking balls in the dirt;
he's really efficient in
all areas of the game,"
Maddon said. "I've only


 RAYS TICKETS
 Single-game tickets are on sale at the
 Charlotte Sports Park ticket office, by phone
 at 888-FAN-RAYS or 1-800-745-3000, and
 online at raysbaseball.com. Ticket prices
 range from $10 to $29. The Charlotte Sports
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 to 5 p.m. and Saturday 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.


arthroscopic surgery on his right
elbow late last month.
 With Hellickson expected to be
sidelined until mid- to late May,
Maddon said Bedard would be one
of the pitchers in the mix for the
fifth starter spot. Bedard also said
he would be open to pitching out
of the bullpen.
 "It's fun to be here," Bedard said.
"I played against these guys for
years, and they've been good and
consistent all these years. It's fun
to be on a team that's thriving."


known him for a couple
of minutes, but I really
feel like he's the kind
of guy that there's one
motivation, one agenda;
to win tonight, period.
That screams when you
talk to this guy. We're very
happy to have him."
 The addition of
Hanigan who signed
a three-year, $11 million
contract with the Rays
during the offseason
- should provide a
measurable boost to a
position that struggled
offensively in 2013. Jose
Molina and Jose Lobaton
split the majority of the


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time behind the plate
last season, but they
combined to hit .241
with nine home runs and
50 RBIs.
 Hanigan struggled in
Cincinnati last year -
he spent much of the
season dealing with a
wrist injury but he has
a track record as a hitter.
Though he batted just
.198 last season, Hanigan
has a career average of
.262.
 And after spending the
offseason doing plenty of
hand and wrist exercis-
es, Hanigan said he is
healthy and "feels good"
entering spring training.
 "Offensively, I want to
do my job, too. I want
to be a complete player,
no doubt. But my first
job is handling the staff,"
Hanigan said. "My game
is just to be prepared, get
these guys comfortable
and go at guys. Play hard,
try to get on the same
page with all these guys
and get to a point where
we're rolling. That's the
plan."
 That plan is already in
motion. Hanigan joined
more than 10 Rays pitch-
ers at Tropicana Field
earlier this year to catch
some bullpen sessions,


 AP PHOTO
Yankees starting pitcher Masahiro Tanaka
walks to the clubhouse during a spring training
workout Saturday in Tampa.


 A first for Karns: Nathan Karns, who
the Rays acquired in a trade with the Nationals on
Thursday, reported to Charlotte Sports Park with
the rest of Tampa Bay's pitchers and catchers on
Saturday.
 "I1 thought it was going to be a heads-up (trade),
then (Nationals general manager Mike) Rizzo said
it was three for one, and that really caught me off
guard. I was like,'Whoa, me? Three for one? Do
they know who they're talking about?"Karns said,
laughing. "I guess you can look at it as an honor
that they thought so highly of me."
 Karns, who was the Washington Nationals' No. 9
prospect according to Baseball America, went 10-6
with a 3.26 ERA in Double-A last season.

 News and notes: David Price said he's "in
a good place mentally, physically"after throwing
his first bullpen session. ... Maddon said new
closer Grant Balfour "looked real nice" mechanically
and physically. ... Relievers Juan Carlos Oviedo and
Juan Sandoval were the only two pitchers not to
report to spring training. They are being held up in
the Dominican Republic because of visa issues.


so he's already begun to
build some familiarity
with some of the pitchers
he'll be working with in
his eighth major league
season.
 And so far, he has liked
what he's seen. Hanigan
said he "couldn't believe"
that 10 major league
pitchers would spend
part of their offseason
throwing bullpens at the
stadium, and he said the
staff has "a lot of great
arms."
 The Rays like what they
see in Hanigan, too. With
Lobaton now a mem-
ber of the Washington
Nationals he was
traded on Thursday-
Hanigan and the newly
re-signed Molina will
form what Maddon
called "the best catching
we've had here."
 "These guys come to
play. The numbers speak
for themselves," Hanigan
said. "This is definitely a
successful organization
in terms of their perfor-
mance, obviously, and
trying to get their final
goal, which is the ring.
No doubt, they defi-
nitely breed a winning
attitude."
 Contact Josh Vitale at (94 1)
206-1122 andjvitale@sun-herald.com


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* GOLF ROUNDUP



Triplett, Langer



share ACE lead


 BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
 NAPLES Kirk
Triplett shot a 5-under
67 in windy conditions
Saturday for a share of
the second-round lead
with defending champion
Bernard Langer in the
ACE Group Classic.
 Triplett matched
Langer at 10-under 134
on TwinEagles' Talon
Course.
 Langer, also the
2011 winner and 2012
runner-up, followed his
opening 64 with a 70. He
won the season-opening
event in Hawaii last
month for his 19th
Champions Tour title.
 Triplett has two
Champions Tour victories
after winning three times
on the PGA Tour.
 DuffyWaldorf and Olin
Browne were 9 under.
Waldorf, coming off a
playoff loss to Michael
Allen last week in Boca
Raton in the Allianz
Championship, shot 68.
Browne had a 71.
 Colin Montgomerie,
playing in his 12th
Champions Tour event,
was 7 under along with
Bob Tway.
 Montgomerie had a 67,
and Tway shot 72.

 William McGirt takes
lead at Riviera: In Los Angeles,
William McGirt made eight birdies
in 13 holes and wound up with a
6-under 65 in the Northern Trust Open
for a two-shot lead going into the


final round.
 McGirt has never held a 54-hole
lead on the PGA Tour. With steady
play in calm conditions off Sunset
Boulevard, he opened up a two-shot
lead over George McNeill (66) and
Charlie Beljan (68).

 Choi shoots course
record at Australian Open:
In Melbourne, Australia, South Korea's
Chella Choi set a new course record
with a 10-under 62 to take a share of
the lead after the third round of the
Women's Australian Open.
 A day after Sweden's Anna
Nordqvist broke the women's course
record with a 64 at the par-72 Victoria
Golf Club, Choi eclipsed that mark
with two eagles and seven birdies.
 Choi, who started the day eight
shots behind overnight leader Caroline
Hedwall of Sweden, was tied for first
with 17-year-old Australian amateur
MinJee Lee at 13 under 203.

 Grillo moves into 2-shot
lead at Africa Open: In
East London, South Africa, Emiliano
Grillo surged into a two-shot lead at
the Africa Open with a 9-under 62,
putting the Argentine in position for a
first European Tour title.
 In a tournament of low scoring
at East London Golf Club, Grillo went
lowest in the third round with nine
birdies and no bogeys to move to 20
under overall, two strokes ahead of
Englishman Oliver Fisher heading to
the last round.

 Stricker to Match Play
after brother gets liver:
In Los Angeles, Steve Stricker said
he is going to the Match Play
Championship now that his brother
had a successful liver transplant.


I GOLF SCOREBOARD


PGA Tour
 NORTHERN TRUST OPEN
 Saturday
 At Riviera Country Club
 Los Angeles
 Purse: $6.7 million
 Yardage: 7,349; Par 71
 Third Round
William McGirt 69-67-65 -201
George McNeill 69-68-66 -203
Charlie Beljan 67-68-68 -203
Jason Allred 73-64-67 -204
Brian Harman 67-69-68 -204
BubbaWatson 70-71-64 -205
CameronTringale 68-70-67 -205
JimmyWalker 67-71-67 -205
Jordan Spieth 72-66-67 -205
Charl Schwartzel 69-68-68 -205
Dustin Johnson 66-70-69 -205
Sang-Moon Bae 67-66-72 -205
Bill Haas 72-67-67 -206
Charley Hoffman 67-71-68 -206
Brendan Steele 68-71-67 -206
Aaron Baddeley 69-65-72 -206
Luke Guthrie 71-69-67 -207
John Senden 71-70-66 -207
LeeWestwood 69-70-68 -207
Bryce Molder 69-69-69 -207
Matt Every 69-69-69 -207
JimFuryk 68-68-71 -207
Robert Garrigus 67-67-73 -207
Hideki Matsuyama 70-69-69 -208
KJ. Choi 69-72-67 -208
Harris English 70-69-69 -208
James Hahn 71-72-65 -208
BlakeAdams 67-70-71 -208
Ken Duke 71-69-69 -209
David Lingmerth 70-69-70 -209
Ernie Els 71-70-68 -209
Daniel Summerhays 71-72-66 -209
Matt Jones 67-73-70 -210
JhonattanVegas 70-69-71 -210
Kevin Chappell 71-70-69 -210
BrendonTodd 71-70-69 -210
JJ. Henry 70-69-71 -210
Keegan Bradley 68-70-72 -210
Justin Rose 70-72-68 -210
Victor Dubuisson 70-72-68 -210
Stuart Appleby 72-71-67 -210
David Lynn 70-71-70 -211
FrancescoMolinari 67-73-71 -211
RobertAllenby 71-69-71 -211
Angel Cabrera 69-71-71 -211
Scott Stallings 67-72-72 -211
Ben Crane 72-70-69 -211
GeoffOgilvy 74-68-69 -211
Scott Brown 70-67-74 -211
G.Fernandez-Castano 71-70-71 -212
ErikCompton 74-67-71 -212
Kevin Stadler 69-69-74 -212
VijaySingh 75-67-70 -212
Justin Leonard 70-72-70 -212
Harold Varner III 69-72-72 -213
J.B. Holmes 67-71-75 -213
lan Poulter 72-70-71 -213
Martin Laird 70-73-70 -213

Champions Tour
 ACE GROUP CLASSIC
 Saturday
 At TwinEagles Golf Club (Talon Course)
 Naples
 Purse: $1.6 million
 Yardage: 7,193; Par: 72
 Second Round
KirkTriplett 67-67 -134
Bernhard Langer 64-70 -134
DuffyWaldorf 67-68 135
Olin Browne 66-69 -135
Colin Montgomerie 70-67 -137
BobTway 65-72 -137
Bill Glasson 69-69 -138
GeneSauers 70-69 -139
Mark McNulty 68-71 -139
Michael Allen 68-71 -139
Billy Andrade 71-69 -140
TomLehman 70-70 -140
Rocco Mediate 70-70 -140
Kenny Perry 70-70 -140
Rod Spittle 70-70 -140
Tom PerniceJr. 69-71 -140
Chien Soon Lu 69-71 -140
JayHaas 68-72 -140
Steve Lowery 68-72 -140
TommyArmour III 68-72 -140
MikeGoodes 68-72 -140
 14-


David Eger 69-73 -1
Wes Short, Jr. 69-73 -1
Tom Kite 71-72 -1
BartBryant 71-72 -1
LeeRinker 70-73 -1
Steve Pate 73-70 -1
JimThorpe 70-73 -1
MikeReid 71-73 -1
Morris Hatalsky 72-72 -1
John Inman 71-73 -1
Larry Mize 71-73 -1
Brian Henninger 72-72 -1
Jay Don Blake 70-74 -1
GaryKoch 73-71 -1
Scott Hoch 70-74 -1
Mark Brooks 70-74 -1
Tom Purtzer 75-69 -1
Peter Senior 75-69 -1
Brad Bryant 72-73 -1
Fuzzy Zoeller 72-73 -1
Roger Chapman 72-73 -1
Jim Rutledge 72-73 -1
Bobby Clampett 70-75 -1
David Frost 71-75 -1
John Harris 71-75 -1
Jeff Sluman 74-72 -1
Steve Elkington 70-76 -1
JohnRiegger 68-78 -1

LPGATour
 WOMEN'S AUSTRALIAN OPEN
 Saturday
 At Victoria Golf Club
 Melbourne, Australia
 Purse: $1.2 million
 Yardage: 6,480; Par: 72
 Third Round
 a-amateur
Chella Choi 70-71-62 -2
a-MinjeeLee 68-67-68 -2
LydiaKo 68-68-69 -2
Suzann Pettersen 66-68-72 -2
Jenny Shin 74-67-66 -2
MiHyangLee 72-67-68 -2
Marianne Skarpnord 70-69-68 -2
Amelia Lewis 71-67-69 -2
KarinelIcher 69-68-70 -2
Morgan Pressel 69-68-70 -2
HollyClyburn 68-68-71 -2
Caroline Hedwall 68-65-74 -2
Perrine Delacour 70-73-65 -2
KarrieWebb 71-69-68 -2
Jessica Speechley 71-67-70 -2

European Tour
 AFRICA OPEN
 Saturday
 At East London Golf Club
 East London, South Africa
 Purse: $1.36 million
 Yardage: 6,571; Par: 72
 Third Round
E. Grillo, Argentina 68-63-62 -1
Oliver Fisher, England 66-63-66 -1
Richard Bland, England 64-69-64 -1
Thomas Aiken, So. Africa 66-65-66 -1
J.Hahn, United States 65-61-71 -1
U.Van den Berg, S. Africa 66-68-65 -1
F. Zanotti, Paraguay 65-66-68 -1
D. Fichardt, So. Africa 66-67-67 -2
Jens Dantorp, Sweden 69-63-68 -2
L.Bjerregaard, Denmark 64-67-69 -2
David Horsey, England 66-64-70 -2
J.van Zyl, South Africa 69-65-67 -2
Jean Hugo, South Africa 68-66-67 -2
Ricardo Santos, Portugal 62-66-73 -2

Web.com Tour
 PACIFIC RUBIALES COLOMBIA
 CHAMPIONSHIP
 Saturday
 At Bogota CountryClub
 Bogota, Colombia
 Purse: $750,000
 Yardage: 7,237; Par: 71
 Completed Second Round
Bill Lunde 66-68 -1
Justin Thomas 65-69 -1
Andrew D. Putnam 68-66 -1
ChrisWilson 69-66 -1
PeterTomasulo 67-69 -1
Jonathan Randolph 66-70 -1
Alex Cejka 68-68 -1
Jin Park 69-67 -1
Sam Saunders 69-67 -1
,I ,l [,I i.,, I


* MLB: Tampa Bay notebook



Bedard delighted to be with Rays


:Page 8 SP


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The Sun/Sunday, February 16, 2014