SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Giants manager Bruce Bochy said he asked closer Sergio Romo to be honest with the staff of Team Mexico today about how his arm feels, one day after throwing 26 pitches in a one-inning outing against Italy in the WBC.
Bochy said Romo told him his arm felt fine but that Romo hadn't played catch yet when they talked on the phone this afternoon. Romo was asked to tell Mexico's coaches if his arm felt tired or sore, and check in with Giants trainer Dave Groeschner as well.
WBC rules say a pitcher who throws 30 pitches in an outing must be given at least one day of rest. But Romo fell four pitches short of that benchmark and so is technically eligible for tonight's game against Team USA.
Bochy also said the Giants wouldn't hesitate to place their own call to Team Mexico if Romo said his arm didn't feel right.
"We checked in with him and talked to him and told him the importance of being honest," Bochy said. "You've got a guy's career here if he doesn't feel right. He said he would."
Romo was charged with a blown save in Mexico's 6-5 loss to Italy on Thursday. Bochy said that in talking to Romo, "his pride's been hurt a little." He said he felt for his closer after seeing the result and that his first reaction wasn't nervousness over the effect on Romo's arm.
"We're hyper-vigilant on these guys being ready," Bochy said. "You go game speed in this WBC. So he was ready to go back-to-back games. He's probably going to do that this year.
"You don't like to see it obviously, and there is some concern the next day. That's why he's got to be honest where he's at."
* The third weather delay was the charm today as the Giants' game against the Dodgers was called in the top of the second due to rain. The teams had already waited through a delay of 30 minutes before first pitch and 26 minutes in the bottom of the first.
Giants starter Barry Zito warmed up before the first delay and had to return to the bullpen to warm up again, throwing 15 to 20 pitches, he said. Zito then had 24 pitches in a rocky first inning and finished his day by returning to the bullpen for about 40 more pitches.
Zito allowed three runs on four hits to the Dodgers but said the back-and-forth wasn't to blame. "I was just missing out over the plate a little bit on most of those hits," he said. "It was all kind of small misses, not a lot of huge misses. They capitalized."
In the bottom of the first, Hunter Pence ripped a double to left. Shortly after he reached second base, it began to hail. Pence didn't seem to want to leave the base, but Buster Posey, who was in the batter's box, turned abruptly for the Giants' dugout.
"The umpires weren't leaving either," Bochy quipped. "Buster's the one who walked off and said, 'I'm done.'"
* Bochy said Tim Lincecum will throw a simulated game Saturday so the Giants can "control his pitches and everything."
Lincecum, scratched from his last two outings due to a blister on the middle finger of his pitching hand, is in line to pitch Tuesday night against the Padres, Bochy said.
Et cetera -- Reliever Javier Lopez (hand bruise) was scheduled to pitch Friday for the first time this spring. Lopez will be on today's pitching list, Bochy said.
* Catcher Hector Sanchez (calf) has been cleared to play and will likely return Sunday.
* Andres Torres (oblique) is taking swings from both sides of the plate and could return Sunday or Monday.
-- Matt Kawahara
Matt Kawahara was born in Sacramento and attended McClatchy High School and UC Berkeley, where he wrote for the independent student paper The Daily Californian. He graduated from Cal in 2010 and started at The Sacramento Bee as a summer intern. He joined The Bee’s sports staff in fall 2011.
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