The Associated Press

WINTER HAVEN, Fla. - Ricky Gutierrez's impressive comeback is veering back over to the NL.

The veteran infielder, whose career was nearly ended by a serious neck injury, was traded Sunday with cash to the New York Mets for a player to be named.

"I'm just happy someone else wanted me," Gutierrez said before leaving Cleveland's camp.

He played in just 16 games last season after undergoing a risky surgery in October 2002 to have two vertebrae fused in his neck.

However, the 33-year-old arrived for spring training in great shape and played well enough that the Mets grabbed him to be a backup.

"Ricky overcome odds that no one thought he could," Indians general manager Mark Shapiro said. "This guy is a pro, and I don't use that word lightly."

The Indians will pay a "large majority" of Gutierrez's $4.6 million salary this season, said Shapiro, who needed approval from the commissioner's office because the club is assuming more than $1 million.

YANKEES: It all seemed so natural for Hideki Matsui.

He was treated like royalty when he returned to the Tokyo Dome, and he didn't take much time to reward his adoring fans.

Matsui homered in his first at-bat back in Japan, starting an evening when the New York Yankees showed why they're called the Bronx Bombers back home.

Jorge Posada hit a go-ahead, three-run homer and Derek Jeter added a solo shot, leading the Yankees over the Yomiuri Giants 6-2 Sunday night in New York's first game in Japan in 49 years.

SHORT HOPS: Brad Penny pitched five scoreless innings and the Marlins beat the Red Sox 4-0. He gave up three hits and struck out six.

• Rodrigo Lopez tossed seven strong innings, and Miguel Tejada and Melvin Mora each knocked in a pair of runs in the Orioles' 7-3 win over the Mets.

Mets starter Steve Trachsel gave up four unearned runs in the second.

• Mike Lieberthal went 4-for-4 with three RBI, leading the Phillies to a 5-2 victory over the Blue Jays.

Lieberthal hit a two-run homer and Billy Wagner struck out the side in the ninth for the Phillies, who had their full lineup for the first time this spring.

•  Roger Clemens had a rough start and newly acquired third baseman Mike Lamb added to the problem with three of Houston's five errors in the Braves' 6-4 victory over the Astros. Clemens pitched six innings and allowed five runs, two of them earned. He gave up seven hits, including a home run by Chipper Jones, struck out four and walked one.

• The Rockies gave utility player Damian Jackson his unconditional release on Sunday.

Jackson, a non-roster invitee to spring training, batted .143 (6-for-42) with one RBI in 14 exhibition games.

• Greg Maddux struggled again for the Cubs, allowing five runs on seven hits in five innings in a 7-1 loss to the Padres. Maddux is 0-2 this spring.