Keith Srakocic, Associated Press Oliver Perez was back on the mound for the Pirates, throwing two innings in an exhibition game yesterday. Click photo for larger image.

BRADENTON, Fla. -- The Pirates yesterday got Oliver Perez back. Now it's a matter of pushing him forward with all deliberate speed.

Perez, in his first appearance for the Pirates since his trip to the World Baseball Classic with Mexico, pitched the first two innings of a 9-7 victory against Toronto.

He threw 36 pitches, 20 for strikes -- and threw more than half those pitches in the first inning.

"I threw a lot of pitches," Perez said. "I just tried to forget about the first inning and tried to focus on the second inning."

"In the second inning, his breaking ball for a strike early in the count was a lot better than it was in the first inning," manager Jim Tracy said.

In the second inning, Perez retired the Blue Jays cleanly on a pop fly and two routine ground balls.

In the first inning, Perez walked two batters before Shea Hillenbrand lined a misplaced fastball into left-center field for a two-run double.

"He's missing with his fastball in right now," said catcher Humberto Cota, who reviewed Perez's outing pitch-by-pitch on videotape afterward. "That's what Hillenbrand hit. It was supposed to be a fastball in and he left it right in the middle.

"Overall he was pretty good. He's not there yet. He needs to step it up because we only have two weeks."

"I thought Oliver did fine," Tracy said. "His pitches were good with the exception of the one he misfired. He threw a number of quality pitches. He was around the plate."

Perez will throw a bullpen session in a couple days, and he's scheduled to start again Friday night against Philadelphia in Clearwater. Perhaps in that start he'll pitch five innings.

Radar guns tracked Perez' fastball at 89-90 mph yesterday. That's a slight jump from the 86-88 mph he threw in his three innings against the United States in his start for Mexico Thursday night.

"He'll be at least in the low 90s by the time the season starts," Cota said. "He has to catch up. His arm strength is not there yet."

"You don't want to get too over-involved in velocity at this point," Tracy said. "You have to give the guy an opportunity to stretch himself out some and build up his arm before you look at how hard he's throwing.

"I like to see where they're throwing, not how hard they're throwing. I want to see how he's pitching and what kind of thought process he's using to go about his business. I've seen guys throw 95 [mph] and get the [heck] beat out of them."

Pitching coach Jim Colborn keenly watched Perez' mechanics yesterday.

"I was looking at his motion and his balance, if it was a consistent motion and if he repeated it," Colborn said. "And on all those counts, I felt pretty good about it. I thought the mechanics were decent."

Give Perez the final words about where he stands with the season opener two weeks from today.

"My control is better," he said. "My mechanics are better. And my velocity is coming."

Duffy plays

Chris Duffy played for the first time since March 11 when he was struck in the head by a Curt Schilling fastball.

Duffy lined a double just inside the left-field line on an 0-2 pitch in his first bat. He came around on a passed ball and a sacrifice fly by Jose Hernandez.

He struck out in his other three at-bats, the final two times looking.

"I'm not worried," Duffy said. "Everything's going to fall into place. I need to get more at-bats against off-speed stuff.

"I feel like I'm back at the beginning [of spring training] now, and the pitchers are starting to throw their off-speed stuff -- and throwing off-speed stuff behind in the counts. It will take me a little time. I'm not picking up the off-speed stuff yet."

With his four at-bats yesterday, Duffy has 22 for the spring. He'd like to get 45 to 50 at-bats before the season begins. He'll probably get another three or four today in the game against Tampa Bay in St. Petersburg.

Candidates take mound

Brandon Duckworth is scheduled to start today. Ryan Vogelsong also will pitch. Victor Santos, like those two a candidate for the fifth starter's job, will pitch in a minor-league game in Bradenton today.

Long ball

The Pirates hit five home runs yesterday, including a three-run bolt by J.J. Furmaniak in the eighth that decided things. Joe Randa, Yurendell DeCaster, Jason Bay and Ray Sadler also went deep. The Pirates have 32 home runs in their 20 spring games and are 13-7.

BY THE NUMBERS
Spring training numbers for candidates for the Pirates' starting rotation through yesterday (listed by innings pitched).
Player	Rec	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Paul Maholm	2-1	14.0	20	11	6	4	7.07
Ian Snell	0-1	13.0	7	2	3	6	1.38
Zach Duke	0-1	12.0	16	9	2	9	6.75
Ryan Vogelsong	0-1	11.0	20	11	6	9	9.00
Tom Gorzelanny	0-0	10.2	12	2	6	9	1.69
Victor Santos	0-1	9.2	17	6	1	3	5.59
Brandon Duckworth	1-1	8.1	8	3	6	8	3.24
Sean Burnett	1-0	6.0	8	2	1	3	3.00
Oliver Perez	0-0	2.0	1	2	2	1	9.00