12:00 PM EST on Monday, March 20, 2006

FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) -- Jason Varitek was happy to be back behind the plate for the Boston Red Sox, and one of their struggling pitchers was excited to see him.

With the United States eliminated from the World Baseball Classic, Boston's catcher and captain returned and helped Bronson Arroyo throw five shutout innings yesteray in a 3-1 victory over the Baltimore Orioles.

In his other three outings, the right-hander allowed 15 runs and 15 hits in 6 2/3 innings.

"Having Jason back there helps me out because we're thinking more on the same page than having other guys behind the plate that don't know your stuff," said Arroyo. "If he's putting signs down, I know he's thinking in a certain pattern from what I've done in the past with him, and so it's not a guessing game."

Arroyo allowed four singles and no walks while striking out four. He left with a 1-0 lead on Manny Ramirez's first homer of spring training, in the second inning.

Varitek liked seeing a familiar face on the mound after the WBC.

"It was just nice to be able to get back there with somebody that you know instead of a bunch of people that you don't know," he said.

Boston has some new pitchers -- Josh Beckett, Julian Tavarez, Rudy Seanez and David Riske.

"There's a few I'm going to have to learn, but we still have two weeks left so that's the good part," Varitek said.

Varitek played in three of the U.S. team's six games with two hits, including a grand slam, in seven at-bats.

Yesterday, Varitek flied out and struck out before Josh Bard replaced him in the sixth to catch knuckleballer Tim Wakefield.

"It's great to have (Varitek) back," said Wakefield, who allowed one hit and struck out three in three innings. "The guys that were gone for the WBC, it's good to have all the guys that we're going to have on our team back."

The Orioles finally got to one of Boston's pitchers in the ninth when Javy Lopez led off with a homer against Seanez that made it 3-1.

Arroyo is expected to start the season in the bullpen, but his solid performance bodes well.

"I felt strong," he said. "It's funny how you know you can feel a lot better as soon as you take the first 10 tosses in the bullpen."