Jason Schmidt and Ben Sheets each took a promising first step as they work their way back from injuries that curtailed their 2005 seasons. The Washington Nationals also got some good news: Outfielder Jose Guillen will not have wrist surgery after receiving a second medical opinion Saturday that recommended rehabilitation. Guillen led the team with 24 home runs last season. Making his spring training debut for San Francisco, Schmidt gave up two hits in three scoreless innings of a 7-2 win over the Chicago Cubs in Scottsdale, Ariz. He struck out one and walked none. "It was a definite improvement over last year," said Schmidt, hindered by a tender groin last season. "The changeup has been difficult to throw for me in Arizona, but it wasn't bad today. And I've always had that slide step, but after coming off surgery it's hard to speed up mechanically." Schmidt was pleased with his outing, but most impressive to Giants manager Felipe Alou was the pitcher's quickness to the plate, enabling catcher Mike Matheny to nail speedy Juan Pierre on a steal attempt. "That's the best thing I saw from Schmidt," Alou said. "If your arm is not right, you're not going to be quick to the plate. That's as fast as I've ever seen him do it. And he pitched well, throwing only fastballs and changeups." Sheets pitched in a game for Milwaukee for the first time since August, allowing two runs in two innings of the Brewers' 9-7 victory over a split squad of Oakland Athletics in Phoenix. Sheets, who concentrated on fastballs and changeups, didn't pitch after Aug. 26 last season because of a torn muscle behind his right shoulder. "It was big for him to go out in more of a formal situation, facing another major league team," Milwaukee manager Ned Yost said. "He didn't throw any breaking balls. His second inning was much better than the first. He got in the swing of things." Milwaukee is being cautious with Sheets, who dropped out of the World Baseball Classic. "Knowing he would be a little more geared up, he wanted to back off on his breaking ball," Yost said. "It's something we all talked about. The second inning he had easy life on his fastball. You could see he was feeling good. He's right on schedule." The Chicago Cubs insisted they weren't risking the health of starter Kerry Wood by allowing him to throw off the mound on Monday  one day before he is scheduled to undergo arthroscopic surgery on his right knee. Wood was expected to miss the start of the season after undergoing surgery on his right shoulder on Aug. 31. Trainer Mark O'Neal said Wood began experiencing "a tapping palpable pain" on the upper bone of his thigh about a week ago and an MRI revealed a medial meniscus tear. O'Neal and Baker said the knee flares up when Wood is running  not pitching. And Dr. Lewis Yocum, the surgeon performing the operation in Los Angeles, gave the OK to keep throwing. In Jupiter, Fla., the Marlins said they're still waiting to hear from second baseman Pokey Reese, with the team relieved he's safe but wondering if he's gone for good. Last seen Wednesday, Reese left spring training to return home, manager Joe Girardi said. The Marlins had no contact Saturday with Reese or his agent, general manager Larry Beinfest said. "We're waiting to hear from him," Beinfest said. "As an employer, we'd like to know what's going on with our employee. We're all professionals here. We would expect to hear from him in a reasonable amount of time." Beinfest said Marlins officials had not tried to reach Reese. The only contact from his agent was a brief phone call Friday to allay concerns about Reese's safety, Beinfest said. -AP
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