VIERA, Fla. -- Shawn Hill pitched a scoreless inning in his first appearance in nearly eight months, and the Washington Nationals beat the Houston Astros 2-0 on Friday.
"It was a little weird going out and throwing just one inning," Hill said. "They're doing it for the right reasons. I appreciate that. I definitely think I could have thrown two, but there's no reason."
Hill's season was cut short on June 25, when he went on the disabled list with an injured elbow. He had arthroscopic surgery to remove bone spurs from his right elbow in September.
He threw just 12 pitches, six for strikes, walking one as Washington's starter Friday.
Jesus Flores and Cristian Guzman each had RBI doubles off Astros starter Wandy Rodriguez.
Rodriguez gave up two runs on four hits and a walk in two innings.
Gustavo Chacin, Marco Estrada and Jason Bergmann each pitched two scoreless innings for the Nationals. Saul Rivera threw a scoreless eighth inning, and Joel Hanrahan struck out two in a perfect ninth for the save.
Washington pitchers allowed only two hits.
Jose Capellan pitched two scoreless innings for the Astros, while Wesley Wright, Bud Norris, Tyler Lumsden and Chad Poranto each worked a scoreless inning.
Notes
Nationals outfielder Austin Kearns is day to day with a blister on his left hand. ... Non-roster invitee P Jorge Sosa still wasn't in Nationals camp Friday. He continues to have visa problems. Sosa was expected in camp Wednesday, but no timetable has been set for his arrival. ... Nationals assistant general manager Mike Rizzo announced Friday that Fernando Ravelo, the general manager of the Tigres del Licey, will oversee the teams new facility and operations in Boca Chica, Dominican Republic. The new facility was built by the Rawlings foundation, and was used for World Baseball Classic workouts. Rizzo said the team will host 36 prospects there.
