Gooden Wild, Pitches Four Scoreless Innings

Dwight Gooden, making his second start since undergoing cocaine rehabilitation, pitched four scoreless innings of two-hit ball for Class A Lynchburg (Va.) in a Carolina League game Saturday night against Durham (N.C.) at Lynchburg.

Gooden struck out three, walked two and pitched out of a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the fourth inning against the Atlanta farm club, which won the game, 1-0.

Gooden struggled with his control, throwing 52 pitches, only 26 for strikes. Some observers said he didn’t appear as sharp as he did last Tuesday night in a stint for Class AAA Tidewater.

“No, it wasn’t as good, but I still thought he pitched well,” said Greg Pavlick, the New York Mets’ roving minor league pitching coach who is overseeing Gooden’s recovery.

“He was a little tired tonight. His legs were a little heavy,” Pavlick said.

Met spokesman Jay Horwitz, paraphrasing Gooden, said: “All in all, he felt he made progress from Tidewater to now. His legs were tired in the fourth inning. He also needs to work on his curve.”