Colon's impressive outing means he could earn spot in Sox' rotation

Bartolo Colon took a big step toward making the White Sox' starting rotation Wednesday, pitching 2-hit ball into the fifth inning of a 5-4 win over the Oakland Athletics in Phoenix.

Colon, coming back from off-season elbow surgery, struck out four in 41/3 innings and did not walk a batter. He threw 33 of 43 pitches for strikes.

"I was excited with what I saw today," manager Ozzie Guillen said. "He definitely threw very well."

More importantly Guillen said, "The ball was around the plate. I don't care how hard you throw if you move the ball around the plate, you're going to have success."

Guillen said he's not worried about Colon's low pitch count - yet.

"I worry about innings and zeroes," he said, but acknowledged Colon will have to get stronger before the White Sox can count on him in the rotation.

Also for the White Sox, Jose Contreras gave up 4 runs - 3 earned - in 4 innings, while striking out three and walking one.

Contreras is coming back from a ruptured Achilles' tendon. He originally wasn't expected back until midseason.

"A good outing for Jose," Guillen judged. "A good day for both guys."

Of the two, "Bartolo was a little sharper," catcher A.J. Pierzynski said. "Bartolo was pinpoint. He threw the fastball right where he needed it. He has to move it in and out, up and down."

Wilson Betemit and Jim Thome hit consecutive homers in the eighth to put the White Sox up 5-3.

• The White Sox assigned promising infielder Gordon Beckham to the minor-league camp. His chances of making the big-league roster disappeared when the Sox named Chris Getz the starting second baseman. Also assigned to the minor-league camp were pitcher Aaron Poreda and infielders Ben Broussard and Eider Torres. The Sox also optioned pitchers Adam Russell and Ehren Wassermann to Triple-A Charlotte.

Smoltz pitches from mound: Right-hander John Smoltz pitched from the mound in a Red Sox uniform for the first time Wednesday, testing his surgically repaired shoulder by throwing 40 pitches in the bullpen.

Smoltz, who turns 42 in May, threw to a crouching catcher for just the second time since having surgery to repair a torn Labrum on June 10. His first mound session was in December for Red Sox pitching coach John Farrell. Smoltz then signed with Boston in January, ending his 20-year tenure with the Braves. He has played catch off a mound this spring, throwing to a standing catcher.

"This was the first time I'm throwing down to a catcher," he said. "(It's) totally different than throwing to a catcher standing up. I didn't think it was going to be that big a deal and it was. It's just getting used to it all over again. Now I'm getting used to all the components, the mound, the height of the mound, all those things that you take for granted."

For the next two weeks, Smoltz will throw bullpen sessions every third day, leading into throwing batting practice and simulated games before a potential rehab assignment.

Around the horn: Yankees left-hander Andy Pettitte threw 83 pitches over 51/3 innings in a minor league game on Wednesday. Pettitte allowed 5 runs - 1 earned - and 7 hits for Class-A Tampa against Philadelphia's Clearwater team. All the runs came in the second, when Tampa committed 3 errors. ... A day after hitting his first home run of spring training, Manny Ramirez started in left field and batted third for the Los Angeles Dodgers in a game against the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday. He singled in his first at-bat. ... Veteran outfielder Trot Nixon was released by the Milwaukee Brewers, leaving three players competing for two outfield spots on the opening-day roster. ... American League championship series star David Price, who saved Game 7 in the ALCS vs. Boston, was optioned by the Tampa Bay Rays to Triple-A Durham. ... Johnny Blanchard, who played in five consecutive World Series for the New York Yankees in the early 1960s, died Wednesday of a heart attack in Minnesota. He was 76. ... Arthur Richman, a longtime baseball writer who went on to spend four decades as an executive with the New York Mets and Yankees, died Wednesday. He was 83. ... Pittsburgh Pirates prospect Jose Tabata is not involved in any wrongdoing in a bizarre case in which his much-older wife is charged with abducting a 2-year-old baby girl from a Florida couple, police told the team.