SARASOTA, Fla. -- Scott Kazmir put together another solid spring outing Saturday, building off his nice first start.
Kazmir pitched four sharp innings to lead the Tampa Bay Rays to a 3-1 victory over the Cincinnati Reds. The All-Star left-hander allowed one run and five hits, struck out three and walked none.
"Kaz had command of his breaking ball," Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon said. "When he does that it makes his other pitches that much better."
Kazmir, who was 12-8 with a 3.49 ERA last season, gave up one run and three hits over two innings in his Grapefruit League debut on Monday against the Minnesota Twins.
Bronson Arroyo went 4 2/3 innings in the longest outing by a Reds pitcher this spring. He allowed three runs and four hits.
Carlos Pena and Pat Burrell hit back-to-back RBI doubles off Arroyo in the first inning and Willy Aybar hit his first homer of the spring in the fourth.
"Them hitting me around in the first inning gave me a high pitch count," Arroyo said. "Even in a spring game a high pitch inning can affect how deep you go in the game. I got some good work in today."
The Reds have scored a single run in each of their last two games but manager Dusty Baker remains upbeat.
"We hit some balls hard today," Baker said. "(Norris) Hopper hit the ball hard three times and I thought Rosy (Adam Rosales) got one."
Rosales hit a long fly to center with a man on in the eighth that died short of the warning track.
Notes
Reds relievers Daniel Herrera, Arthur Rhodes, David Weathers, Francisco Cordero and Jared Burton combined for 4 1/3 scoreless innings. Herrera got one out and Rhodes, Weathers, Cordero and Burton each pitched an inning. ... Jeff Niemann threw two scoreless innings for the Rays.
