Matheny excited about debut

By TIM REYNOLDS

AP Sports Writer

MIAMI — Mike Matheny is excited for his managerial debut. At least, he thinks he is.

Turns out, the St. Louis skipper may have some trouble sorting out his feelings right now.

“Maybe I’m just not smart enough to decipher between nerves and excitement,” Matheny said.

The Cardinals know that’s not the case. Though it will almost seem like an ancillary story tonight — overshadowed by the newly renamed Miami Marlins opening their new $515 million ballpark — Matheny’s time running the reigning World Series champions is finally set to begin, the next chapter of his baseball life after the former catcher appeared in 10 opening days as a player.

“Opening day, in all 30 stadiums, is going to be pretty exciting,” Matheny said. “I’m a little biased to what we’ve seen on a consistent basis in St. Louis. Regardless if the team wins the World Series or not, opening day is pretty special. So especially after the kind of finish that this team had last year, we think it could be exceptional.”

Matheny took a wide-eyed first look around Marlins Park on Tuesday — “bright and unique” was his assessment — but was otherwise all business. He held an afternoon team meeting that was short on hyperbole, the primary agenda being to announce a lineup of Rafael Furcal, Carlos Beltran, Matt Holliday, Lance Berkman, David Freese, Yadier Molina, Jon Jay, Daniel Descalso and Kyle Lohse, and go over the team’s signs.

His last decision before the games count for real? He tabbed himself to throw batting practice.

“I like doing that,” Matheny said. “It’s a long season.”

True, and it comes after an offseason full of change.

The lineup the Cardinals will use in Game 1 of this season has a couple glaring changes compared to the one used in Game 7 of last season’s World Series. No Chris Carpenter on the mound, sidelined by a nerve ailment that weakened his throwing shoulder. No Albert Pujols at first base, his time with the Cardinals ending when he signed a $240 million, 10-year deal with the Los Angeles Angels.

And of course, not only is the lineup different, but so is the man behind the lineup. Tony La Russa retired after the World Series, opening the door for Matheny, a 41-year-old who looks as if he could still play.

“I’m just excited, same way we talked about spring training games,” Matheny said. “I’m just excited to get going.”

Lohse gets the opening-day start because Carpenter is ailing, though Lohse perhaps had the best numbers on the Cardinals’ staff last season. He led St. Louis in wins (14) and topped the starters in both ERA (3.39) and batting average allowed (.249).

“I’m going out there for my teammates, like I always do,” Lohse said. “You do that, you try to give it your all in every game.”

The first time Matheny ever played on opening day in the major leagues, his team beat Ozzie Guillen’s club, Milwaukee topping the Chicago White Sox 12-3 on April 26, 1995.

Fast forward 17 years and Matheny’s opening-day managerial debut comes against one managed by Guillen, who’s running the Marlins for the first time.

And Matheny has picked the brains of several other managers, saying it was important for him to learn as much as he could this spring. He declined to say who he sought out for ideas — some of them, he said, only talked to him with the strict caveat that the details of their conversation must stay private — but it’s known that he and La Russa have been in fairly regular contact.

La Russa hasn’t been in the public eye much at all since retiring. Matheny hopes he’s around the Cardinals again soon, saying it would be “an honor” for La Russa to spend some time with the club.

For now, the 2012 Cardinals and Matheny will simply try to pick up where the 2011 Cardinals and La Russa left off.

“It’s time to get out here and play the game and show our fan base that we’re excited about carrying on after what happened last year,” Matheny said.

Red Sox 8, Nationals 7

WASHINGTON — Jacoby Ellsbury and Dustin Pedroia sure looked ready for the regular season Tuesday, combining for four hits, four RBIs and four runs before taking the rest of the afternoon off, and the Boston Red Sox beat the Washington Nationals 8-7 in the exhibition finale for both clubs.

With a crowd of 30,568 at Nationals Park, Boston took an 8-7 lead in the ninth on Jason Repko’s RBI double off reliever Henry Rodriguez, who hadn’t allowed a run in his previous 11 innings this spring.

Repko, the center fielder, threw out Ian Desmond at the plate for the game’s final out.

Alfredo Aceves, a candidate to replace the injured Andrew Bailey as Boston’s closer, pitched a scoreless eighth. Bailey will have reconstructive ligament surgery on his right thumb on Wednesday.

PHILLIES 7, PIRATES 2

PHILADELPHIA — Cole Hamels pitched four scoreless innings in his final tuneup before the regular season, and Placido Polanco hit a three-run homer for Philadelphia.

Hamels gave up three hits, struck out five and retired the final nine batters.

Polanco provided the bulk of the offense with a blast off Tim Wood into the seats in left field as part of a four-run fifth inning. It was Polanco’s first homer of the spring.

The Phillies open the regular season Thursday afternoon at Pittsburgh.

BLUE JAYS 13, TIGERS 8

DUNEDIN, Fla. — Detroit slugger Prince Fielder was on the move, stealing a base and then getting thrown out at the plate in the Tigers’ loss to Toronto.

Fielder grounded into a forceout in the third inning. One out later, the burly slugger stole second for his first spring training swipe since 2008.

Jhonny Peralta later singled and Fielder tried to score, but was easily nailed by left fielder Eric Thames.

Thames homered off Tigers starter Max Scherzer, who was charged with nine runs and 11 hits in 4 1-3 innings.

Miguel Cabrera hit a two-run homer in the Detroit first. Danny Worth homered off Kyle Drabek in the Tigers seventh.

WHITE SOX 5, ASTROS 1

HOUSTON — Chris Sale struck out six in four solid innings to lead the White Sox to the victory.

Sale (2-1) was charged with one run and three hits. The left-hander gave up one run and struck out seven in six innings in his last start.

The 23-year-old Sale, who has appeared in 79 games as a reliever, will make his first major league start when his spot in the rotation comes up.

Jordan Schafer was back in center field for the Astros and appeared to be fully recovered from a hand injury that had kept him out for more than two weeks.

Adam Dunn and Paul Konerko homered for Chicago.

RAYS 6, TWINS 2

FORT MYERS, Fla. — Reid Brignac went 2 for 2 with an RBI double in Tampa Bay’s win over Minnesota.

Brignac raised his batting average for the spring to .333 after a hitting a miserable .193 last year. He has been competing with Sean Rodriguez for a starting spot at shortstop.

Both of Brignac’s hits came off of Twins starter Liam Hendriks, who is getting ready to begin the season in Minnesota’s rotation while Scott Baker and Jason Marquis catch up after missing time this spring.

Jeremy Hellickson, the American League Rookie of the Year last season, gave up two runs on six hits through four innings to lower his ERA to 9.00.

METS 7, YANKEES 6

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — Ike Davis hit a tiebreaking home run off Mark Montgomery with one out in the ninth inning, giving the Mets a victory over the Yankees in the first spring training game between the New York rivals since 1996.

Yankees starter Ivan Nova struggled with his fastball location and gave up five runs, eight hits and two walks in 2 2-3 innings. His ERA rose to 8.06.

Mets starter Mike Pelfrey allowed one run and two hits in four innings with no walks and five strikeouts, lowering his ERA from 8.59 to 7.62.

CUBS 5, BREWERS (SS) 3

MESA, Ariz. — Starlin Castro hit a two-run homer in the first inning off minor leaguer Kyle Heckathorn, and the Cubs beat a Milwaukee split squad.

Castro’s homer went off the scoreboard in left field. He was replaced later by Alfredo Amezaga, who homered off Heckathorn leading off the fifth.

Scooter Gennett had three hits for the Brewers, including a run-scoring double.

ROCKIES 9, MARINERS 8

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Seatttle outfielder Carlos Peguero had four hits, including a two-run homer.

Peguero collected his fifth spring homer and three singles. He was sent to the minors last week, then recalled when Mike Carp was injured.

Munenori Kawasaki, Kyle Seager and Casper Wells had two hits apiece for the Mariners, who committed five errors, including two on one play.

Jonathan Herrera had three RBIs for the Rockies, who scored four times in the sixth inning to take the lead. Juan Nicasio, Colorado’s No. 3 starter, allowed four runs and eight hits over 4 1-3 innings in his worst outing of the spring.