Alex Rodriguez knew he was lucky to avoid a serious injury when he was hit in the face by a deflected ball.

"I'm very fortunate," the Yankees' shortstop-turned-third baseman said.

Rodriguez escaped with only a bruised left cheekbone Wednesday night after being struck by a thrown ball that ricocheted off the sliding Brian Daubach's leg in New York's 8-6 exhibition victory over Boston Wednesday night.

"It got him good," Boston third base coach Dale Sveum said. "It wasn't a grazing blow at all. You could hear it."

Rodriguez was taken to the hospital as a precaution, and a CT scan was negative. When the AL MVP spoke to reporters in the clubhouse later in the game, his cheek was swollen and reddened under his left eye. He said he had no problems seeing.

"I don't remember much about the play," Rodriguez said. "I feel pretty good now. I just felt like I got my bells rung pretty good."

It all happened against the Red Sox, the team that tried and failed to land Rodriguez this winter when Texas wanted to unload him and the rest of his record-setting, $252 million salary. The Yankees eventually got the Rangers to take Alfonso Soriano and $67 million of the $179 million remaining on Rodriguez's contract.

Because the Yankees already had Derek Jeter at shortstop, Rodriguez moved to third base.

The Yankees were scheduled to play the Phillies in Clearwater on today and then leave for Tokyo, where they will play Tampa Bay in exhibition games March 28-29 and regular-season games March 30-31. Rodriguez was expected to travel with the team to Japan.

In Viera, Fla., Rob Ramsay made his first exhibition appearance for Baltimore, two years after having a cancerous tumor removed from the front of his brain.

Ramsay, pitching against major league hitters for the first time since last spring with San Diego, allowed one run on two hits in one inning in Baltimore's 3-2 loss to Montreal.

"I feel good. I'm pleased to be out there. I feel like I did a pretty good job," said Ramsay, who wore a helmet for extra protection. "They got hits on pitches I could have thrown a little bit better, but that's how it is on this level."

Also, Fred McGriff, nine homers shy of 500, was reassigned to Tampa Bay's minor league camp. The 40-year-old McGriff hit .250 with two RBI this spring.

In other spring training games:

Pirates 5, Twins 2

At Fort Myers, Fla., Randall Simon hit a two-run homer in the fourth for Pittsburgh.

At Tucson, Ariz., Frank Thomas hit a solo homer and added two doubles in three at-bats for Chicago, a day after volunteering to move from third to fourth in the batting order.With Thomas hitting fourth, Magglio Ordonez moved into the third spot. He hit a solo homer and added a double.

At Scottsdale, Ariz., Brian Giles hit a three-run homer and pitcher Ismael Valdez had a two-run single for San Diego.

At Tucson, Ariz., Chad Tracy and Jamie D'Antona each had two hits and two RBIs for Arizona.

At Tempe, Ariz., Anaheim starter Kelvim Escobar allowed one run in 4innings, and Howard Kendrick singled in the winning run in the ninth.

At Lakeland, Fla., Jose Acevedo pitched four solid innings, and Jason LaRue, Jacob Cruz and Adam Dunn homered for Cincinnati.Blue Jays 5, Phillies 4, 10 inningsAt Clearwater, Fla., Toronto's Chris Woodward led off the ninth with a tying solo homer off Tim Worrell, and Kevin Cash won it with a sacrifice fly in the 10th.Cardinals 4, Marlins 3At Jupiter, Fla., Ray Lankford singled in the winning run in the bottom of the ninth for St. Louis.AP-ES-03-25-04 0327EST