SARASOTA, Fla. (Kyodo) Hideo Nomo gave up a homer and took the loss Friday in his first start of the spring for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, while Chicago White Sox rookie Tadahito Iguchi went 2-for-2 for his first preseason hits.
Nomo, who signed a minor-league contract with Tampa Bay in the offseason, allowed a two-run homer to Austin Kearns in the first inning and left after yielding two runs and four hits in two innings against the Cincinnati Reds. The Reds beat the Rays 4-1.
"You get hit if you throw that high," Nomo said of Kearns' homer off a high fastball. "It's a little too early to test my forkball."
Nomo is vying for a spot on the Opening Day roster after going 3-11 in 18 starts for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2004.
At Tucson, Ariz., White Sox second baseman Iguchi singled and doubled against the Arizona Diamondbacks for his first preseason hits in his first year in the majors.
Iguchi, batting second in the order, singled to left in the first inning and added a double down the left-field line in the fourth before being replaced after four innings. He also had a walk and scored two runs in Chicago's 10-9 loss.
In Phoenix, Keiichi Yabu of the Oakland Athletics allowed two runs on three hits in two innings of relief against a split squad of the Milwaukee Brewers and took the loss in his first appearance of the spring. The Brewers won 12-8.