Gonzalez, though, used the bat twice Wednesday, March 4, in an exhibition game with the Netherlands as the designated hitter for the Cincinnati Reds - two at-bats.

It was his first game action in more than a year, a small test of his surgically repaired left knee.

He singled in his second at-bat and ran the bases a bit. The Reds won 4-3 on a wild pitch in the 10th inning.

"Finally, almost a year since my last at-bat," he said. "Tomorrow is another day and I'll DH again, then I'll jump to shortstop. That's what I'm looking forward to - jumping on the field and helping my team - play offense, play defense, all of it."

Gonzalez no longer wears the thick brace he wore on his knee all last year during rehab, but he had an ice pack wrapped around the knee.

"I feel a little tightness in the muscle, but not on the knee," he said. "I felt tight a little running the bases, but nothing that hurts me. I'll just work to get stronger."

Bronson Arroyo pitched four innings and gave up no runs, two hits, no walks, two strikeouts to the Dutch and said, "I played against Dave Kingsale a lot in the minors and I know Randall Simon, but that's about it.

"That's good because when you don't know guys you go a little harder," he said. "I don't know if those guys are A-ball, Triple-A or the Mexican League, so you just assume they're pretty damn good.

"I gave up a hit in the first inning, then bore down because I didn't want to get beat up too much by those guys," Arroyo added.

Left-handed relief pitcher Bill Bray, the man who treats spring training like a hospital stay, finally threw under game conditions Wednesday.

He passed a 40-pitch test in a simulated game of two innings and is ready to pitch in exhibition games in the next couple of days.