JUPITER, Fla. — Cardinals pitcher Chris Carpenter injured his left hamstring in his spring-training debut Tuesday, but said he wasn’t too concerned about the injury.
Carpenter allowed one hit in 2 2/3 innings against the Marlins before calling for a trainer. The right-hander, 16-9 with a 3.22 ERA last year, got the first two outs and walked Chris Coghlan before leaving the game.
“They don’t think it’s very bad, so I’m not concerned with it,” said Carpenter, who left the clubhouse with his upper left leg wrapped in ice. “We’ll wait and see (today). I’m sure they will know more, but what they say is, it doesn’t seem like it’s very bad.”
Reliever Mitchell Boggs came in to replace Carpenter, but he left in the fourth inning with a lower back strain after retiring one hitter.
Boggs said his back has been bothering him throughout the spring, but he doesn’t think the injury is serious, either.
“It was kind of head-scratching,” manager Tony La Russa said. “We kind of held our breath. We came in here and the doctors and trainers said they are minor.
“Looks like we caught a break.”
The Cardinals already were without 20-game winner Adam Wainwright, who had reconstructive elbow surgery Monday and is out 12 to 15 months.
Anderson announces retirement
TEMPE, Ariz. — Garret Anderson is retiring after 17 seasons in baseball, almost all of them with the Angels. The 38-year-old left fielder said he has no regrets and hasn’t ruled out a coaching career.
“It is with mixed emotions that I have decided to retire from baseball,” Anderson said. “It was truly a privilege to play this wonderful game.”
Anderson’s first big-league season was in 1994. Along the way he had more than 2,500 hits, a career batting average of .293, 287 homers and won a World Series title in 2002.
Cuddyer sidelined after wart removal
FORT MYERS, Fla. — Twins right fielder Michael Cuddyer will miss the next week or two of spring-training games after having a wart removed from his left foot.
Meanwhile, Twins closer Joe Nathan threw a scoreless inning in his first game since an elbow injury wiped out his 2010 season in a 5-0 loss to the Red Sox.
Footnotes.
Greg Goossen, a former Dodgers catcher who played six seasons in the major leagues, then dabbled as a boxing trainer and was a stand-in for actor Gene Hackman in more than a dozen films, died of an apparent heart attack in Sherman Oaks, Calif. He was 65.
• The Indians are close to signing first baseman Nick Johnson to a one-year contract.
