TUCSON, Ariz. -- Trot Nixon had a couple of answers for a small band of hecklers on Monday -- a two-run homer and a two-run double.
"I guess they were Yankee fans," the former Red Sox outfielder said after he helped Arizona beat San Diego 8-4 on Monday. "If you want to get me right, bring in some Yankee fans."
Nixon's shot over the bullpen in right field came off starter Shawn Estes and the opposite-field double off reliever Mike Gardner.
He gave the harassing fans a stare as he rounded third and came home after his second-inning home run.
Nixon, batting .156 for the spring entering the game, signed a minor league contract with Arizona and probably will make the opening day roster, mostly because Chad Tracy is still recovering from knee surgery.
He said he had studied video Sunday and worked on his form in the batting cage and in batting practice.
"I just saw the ball real well," he said of the home run. "The ball was kind of up in the zone. I think he was trying to get ahead, get a strike in there. I just saw it really good and got the bat on the ball."
Manager Bob Melvin said Nixon could help fill the gap left by the departure of veteran Tony Clark, both at the plate as a late-inning left-handed threat and in the clubhouse. Full story
Brewers (ss) 17, Mariners (ss) 3
PEORIA, Ariz. -- Carlos Silva tried a new pitch, got shelled - and was still better off than Chris Capuano.
Capuano walked off the mound in the fourth inning with pain in his left arm, the Milwaukee Brewers' only downer in a victory over Silva's Seattle Mariners in a split-squad game.
Capuano cruised into the fourth with a shutout but allowed home runs by Richie Sexson and Wladimir Balentien on consecutive pitches, plus a single and a walk, before departing the game.
Capuano was an All-Star in 2006 but slumped last season and had offseason surgery on a torn labrum in his nonthrowing shoulder. The left-hander has been in a four-man competition this spring for two spots in the rotation.
White Sox 4, Brewers (ss) 4 (10 inn.)
PHOENIX -- Carlos Villanueva is doing his best to make it tough for the Milwaukee Brewers to cut him.
"You can't be selfish," said Villanueva, one of five pitchers vying for the final three spots in the starting rotation. "You have to see it from the team's point of view. All I can do is make the decision difficult."
Villanueva had just one rough spot, when he allowed four runs in the third inning of his five-inning stint on the mound. He struck out five and walked none as a Brewers split squad played the Chicago White Sox to a tie in 10 innings.
Chicago starter Javier Vazquez was going strong until the fifth inning, when the Brewers tied the game on a three-run homer by Mike Cameron. All three runs were unearned because of an error by third baseman Josh Fields.
Athletics 6, Royals 2
PHOENIX -- From the first day, Oakland manager Bob Geren tabbed Dana Eveland as the front-runner to join the Athletics' starting rotation.
Eveland's five shutout innings in the A's victory over the Kansas City Royals on Monday likely sealed his spot.
Geren announced afterward that Eveland will start the first exhibition game in Tokyo, with Justin Duchscherer starting the other.
"I still don't want to get my hopes up," Eveland said. "I've been let down so many times before that I try not to do that."
Rockies 4, Giants 2 (10 inn.)
TUCSON, Ariz. -- Ian Stewart was simply looking for a pitch to drive.
He hit it straight over the right-field wall to lift the Colorado Rockies to a win over the San Francisco Giants in 10 innings.
"He left one up and I was able to hit it hard," Stewart said of his homer off Alex Hinshaw. "It's getting late in spring training so we'd like to get some wins under our belt and get used to winning."
The encouraging news for Colorado was that starter Aaron Cook pitched five innings with no pain. Cook was scratched from his last start because of a sore shoulder.
Mariners 5, Rangers 2
SURPRISE, Ariz. -- Long reliever Cha Seung Baek did a nice job in a start for the Seattle Mariners.
Baek allowed only one hit while pitching the first four innings for the Mariners in a victory over the Texas Rangers on Monday.
After Baek got his work in, with one strikeout and one walk, knuckleballer R.A. Dickey threw three scoreless innings for Seattle. Dickey gave up three hits and got the victory.
While the Mariners let their reliever candidates get some extended work, Jason Jennings made another solid start for the Rangers despite being charged with the loss.
