PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (AP)—Brad Penny was thrilled with his outing, no matter how many hitters he walked. All he cared about was feeling healthy.
Penny tossed four pain-free innings Monday night, allowing three runs and walking five in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ 6-5 loss to the New York Mets.
The right-hander missed his last scheduled start with a stiff shoulder and hadn’t pitched in a game for 10 days.
“Unbelievable. That is the best I’ve felt,” Penny said. “I can’t remember ever feeling better, and that’s the honest-to-God truth. I mean, minus the walks, I threw a lot of good pitches that were called balls and I was around the plate. I am not going to have better stuff than that.”
Penny struck out three and allowed four hits.
“It’s a relief. After throwing and feeling (pain) and going out there and not feeling one thing, that’s huge for me right now, especially going into the season,” he said.
Penny said the discomfort wouldn’t have caused him to miss a regular-season start, but he wanted to make sure his shoulder was fine in spring training.
“That’s 100 percent right there,” Penny said. “Today I went out there and told myself I wasn’t going to let it go, and apparently I was throwing pretty hard. I was probably throwing about as hard as I’ve thrown, but I felt like I was at 80 percent. I felt pretty effortless.”
Mets starter Tom Glavine struck out seven in six innings but gave up three runs and five hits. He did not walk a batter.
“I feel like I’ve progressed every time I’ve gone out there,” Glavine said.
New York manager Willie Randolph confirmed that Glavine’s next outing will come in the season opener Sunday night at St. Louis.
“He’s all ready to go,” Randolph said.
Chan Ho Park pitched one inning in his first relief appearance for the Mets. Park was unhappy when he was sent to the bullpen Saturday after failing to win a spot in the starting rotation.
The right-hander gave up a tying, two-run homer to Matt Kemp in the eighth.
Notes
The Mets optioned reliever Jorge Sosa to Triple-A. Dodgers reliever Chad Billingsley tossed two innings and gave up a run. He struck out three.
True Blue LA
Amazin' Avenue