Major League Baseball

Capuano effective before Reds, Dodgers rained out

Published Mar. 9, 2013 6:05 a.m. ET

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When the Reds and Dodgers called it a night, Don Mattingly was relieved.

Chris Capuano pitched four solid innings and Ramon Castro hit a two-run homer for the Dodgers before their split-squad game against the Cincinnati Reds was rained out with Los Angeles leading 3-1 on Friday.

The game was stopped after four innings, the second rainout of the day for both teams. Earlier at Scottsdale Stadium, rain and hail ended a Dodgers-Giants game in the second inning with Los Angeles ahead 4-0. Cincinnati's other split squad was tied 1-all with the Chicago Cubs in the second inning Friday night before that game was called.

The chilly rain at Camelback Ranch started in the second inning. It increased in the third and fourth, leaving the field slick and muddy - perhaps making an injury more likely.

''If Matt Kemp or Andre Ethier was out there, it would be one thing,'' said Mattingly, the Dodgers' manager. ''But that doesn't mean that those guys we had out there are any less valuable. There's talent to develop. The ground got soft. It just wasn't worth it. It didn't make sense to continue.''

Capuano gave up a run and two hits. Reds starter Bronson Arroyo worked three innings, allowing one run and one hit. Castro connected in the fourth.

Mattingly visited with the umpires twice before the game was called. If there was any consolation for both teams, it was that Capuano and Arroyo got their work in. Before the game, Reds manager Dusty Baker was worried about the weather and what it might do to Arroyo, whom he called a slow starter.

''What it does is throw off the pitching,'' Baker said.

Capuano traveled to Scottsdale because of a forecast that indicated most of the rain would fall Friday night. He wanted to get his work in and the plan was for him to pitch in relief of Ted Lilly, who threw only 10 pitches against the Giants before the wet weather halted play.

''In those conditions, Capuano was good, I think,'' Mattingly said. ''He got his work in. That's the most important thing. The biggest disruption with this kind of thing is with the pitchers. They want to do the work and stay on schedule.''

An adjustment to Lilly's schedule is expected, Mattingly said.

NOTES: Dodgers right-hander Zack Greinke threw a bullpen session, his first since he was scratched from a start Wednesday because of flulike symptoms. Greinke, who signed a $147 million, six-year deal in December, also missed a bullpen session Sunday because of forearm stiffness. ''It felt good,'' Greinke said. ... Dodgers outfielder Carl Crawford was back in the batting cage. He took 50 swings, hitting 25 balls off a tee and 25 soft tosses. It was Crawford's second session since missing a week with a nerve irritation in his surgically repaired left elbow.

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