Gooden Works 3 Easy Innings for Tidewater

Dwight Gooden, pitching in his first game since undergoing cocaine rehabilitation, threw three shutout innings of one-hit ball Tuesday night for the New York Mets’ Triple-A Tidewater team against Richmond.

Gooden, working quickly and smoothly, threw 39 pitches, 24 for strikes. The Mets said before the International League game that Gooden would work three innings or throw 50 pitches, whichever came first.

The 1985 National League Cy Young Award winner allowed a line-drive double to Paul Runge with one out in the first inning as the ball carried over the head of center fielder Terry Blocker. Gooden struck out one and walked two in facing the top farm club of the Atlanta Braves. The Mets won the game, 5-4.

Gooden threw mostly fastballs with his best one clocked at 92 m.p.h. He was wild high on several occasions but seemed to have good command of his curveball.

“The thing that most concerned me was the crowd,” Gooden said in a statement released after the game. “I didn’t know how they would react to me. I had some trouble sleeping last night, hoping I wouldn’t get booed. I haven’t heard cheers in a long time. They felt good.”