KISSIMMEE, Fla. (AP) -- Gio Gonzalez pitched three scoreless innings before heading to join the United States team at the World Baseball Classic and the Washington Nationals lost to the Houston Astros 4-2 Thursday.
Jason Castro drove in two runs with a single in the eighth inning off losing pitcher Ryan Mattheus that scored Fernando Martinez and Rick Ankiel.
Michael Taylor drove in both of the Nationals' runs with an eighth-inning single off Dallas Keutchel. Josh Zeid won for the Astros.
Gonzalez gave up three hits while striking out three.
Houston starter Phil Humber pitched four innings, giving up only a two-out double to Corey Brown.
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (AP) -- Matt Harvey was nearly perfect for 4 1-3 shutout innings, pitching the New York Mets past the Miami Marlins 4-1 Thursday.
Harvey didn't give up a hit or walk, and struck out five. The only baserunner against him reached on an error. The Mets right-hander is set to begin his first full season in the majors.
Marlins starter Ricky Nolasco was almost as impressive, giving up an unearned run and three hits in 3 2-3 innings. He struck out six.
Mets reliever Pedro Feliciano, wearing a heart monitor, retired the two lefty batters he faced in the fifth inning.
Matt den Dekker homered in the fifth for the Mets.
CLEARWATER, Fla. (AP) -- Aaron Hicks hit three home runs and the Minnesota Twins beat the Philadelphia Phillies 10-6 victory on Thursday.
Hicks went deep in the first, fifth and seventh innings. His first homer came on the second pitch of the game from Phillies starter Cliff Lee. He now has five home runs this spring as he tries to win the Twins' starting center field job.
Lee pitched 3 ? innings, gave up two runs, four hits and struck out five in his third appearance of spring training.
Hicks' solo homer in the seventh, along with a run scored on Zach Miner's wild pitch, narrowed the Phillies lead to one before the Twins scored five runs in the eighth.
BRADENTON, Fla. (AP) -- Alex Cobb pitched one-hit ball for four scoreless innings Thursday and the Tampa Bay Rays defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-2.
Cobb struck out five, twice fanning All-Star Andrew McCutchen, and walked none. He retired the first eight batters.
Relievers Chris Archer and Jake Odorizzi followed as the Rays' staff combined for 11 strikeouts.
Pittsburgh starter James McDonald also gave up just one hit in four shutout innings. He walked three and struck out one.
An error by third baseman Gaby Sanchez helped Tampa Bay score four runs in the seventh.
Russell Martin hit a two-run double in the ninth for the Pirates.
SARASOTA, Fla. (AP) -- Ryan Flaherty hit a three-run homer with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, giving the Baltimore Orioles an 11-10 win over the Toronto Blue Jays on Thursday.
The Orioles blew a 6-1 lead when the Blue Jays scored a run in the fifth, two in the sixth and three in the seventh.
Baltimore reliever Daniel McCutchen gave up five runs and seven hits in 1 1-3 innings.
Mark Buehrle, as the Blue Jays' third starter behind R.A. Dickey and Josh Johnson, allowed Nolan Reimold's leadoff home run in the first in his two innings.
Jason Hammel, a likely candidate to start opening day for Baltimore, allowed five hits in 2 1-3 innings.
FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) -- Mike Napoli hit a three-run homer for Boston, Clay Buchholz overcame leg soreness to pitch three scoreless innings and the Red Sox beat a split squad of Minnesota Twins 12-5 on Thursday.
Buchholz, who aggravated a hamstring muscle on the first day of spring training, struck out four with two hits and no walks in his second preseason start. Reliever Daniel Bard, who struggled in 2012 with a 5-6 record with a 6.22 ERA, struck out the side in the sixth inning.
Dustin Pedroia went 2 for 4 with a double, two RBIs and two runs for the Red Sox.
Twins starter Kevin Correia gave up three runs in 2 1-3 innings. Signed to a two-year contract to help fill out a depleted rotation, the right-hander allowed six hits.
JUPITER, Fla. (AP) -- Pete Kozma and Daniel Descalso each homered and the St. Louis Cardinals, set to play the whole season without All-Star shortstop Rafael Furcal, beat the New York Yankees 7-6 Thursday.
Hours earlier, the Cardinals said Furcal will undergo ligament replacement surgery in his right elbow and expects to miss the year.
Kozma, Furcal's likely replacement, hit a solo home run in the fifth inning and also singled. Descalso, who could also see time at short, hit a two-run homer in the seventh.
The Cardinals were without outfielder Matt Holliday, who had a stomach virus.
Yankees starter Ivan Nova allowed one run in three innings.
St. Louis scored three times in the ninth. Kolton Wong hit a tying, two-run homer and a pair of errors set up Adron Chambers' winning single.
