Bonderman is back

Jeremy Bonderman pitched for the first time in 10 months tonight going two scoreless innings in a 5-2 loss to the Braves. He threw 29 pitches allowing two hits and two walks. He struck out one and got the other five outs on ground balls. Jason Beck reports that Bonderman was throwing 88 to 91 MPH. That's not very fast for him but OK for his first game.

The possible bad news is that Placido Polanco left the game after being hit on the hand by a pitch. There is no word on whether it's anything serious but Billfer said that he left the game immediately without going to first which indicates that he was probably hurting quite a bit. Hopefully, it is not a break of any kind. They don't need another repeat of the Granderson situation last year.

The other bad news tonight was that Dontrelle Willis was awful again - seven hits, two walks and five runs in 2 2/3 innings. It's gotten to the point that a poor performance by Willis is so routine that it doesn't disappoint anymore. Kind of like a Joel Zumaya injury.

Now, back to the good news. Three more relievers pitched scoreless ball tonight - Ryan Perry (1 1/3 IP), Juan Rincon (1 IP) and Clay Rapada (1 IP). Each has a decent chance of making the opening day roster.