"I would rather have the extra start in the minors than coming up too soon," said Gooden, who tossed 69 pitches in his three-inning-plus stint.

Ryan tossed 10 pitches and left without having recorded an out for the second time in his 25-year career.

He permitted two runs and four hits in seven innings, while striking out nine, walking none and tossing only 87 pitches.

Matsuzaka meticulously tossed five different pitches and looked as if he was primed for the regular season.

He tossed five more pitches that were 96, 97 or 98, but Amezaga wound up with an infield single.

Cone tossed 19 pitches in Tuesday's rainout, and many of those same perturbed fans returned to see if he could produce some magic.

Key tossed 103 pitches before Showalter lifted him.

The picky perfectionist did not fault his effort after stifling the Cardinals while tossing 65 pitches over six innings.

McDowell tossed 45 pitches and did not think he would have problems pitching at least six innings in the regular season.

Padilla, who tossed 25 pitches, was obviously the bigger concern of the two as he battled stiffness and was also scheduled to pitch today.