Kenta Maeda gave the Dodgers a glimpse of his potential on Saturday, throwing two scoreless innings in his first start of spring training.

The 27-year-old righthander, who signed a $25 million, eight-year deal in January after eight seasons in Japan, exhibited good command in throwing 28 pitches. He allowed one hit and struck out two in a 7-2 win over the Diamondbacks in Glendale, Ari.

‘‘Maybe I was a little nervous before, but once I was on the mound, not so much,’’ Maeda said through an interpreter. ‘‘I was able to add and subtract to my velocity and I was able to command my pitches well.’’

Maeda attracted a big crowd of Japanese media for his start, and the game was even broadcast live in Japan, starting at 5 a.m. Sunday local time.

‘‘Myself, I would have been sleeping,’’ Maeda said.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts came away optimistic about Maeda.

‘‘It was good,’’ Roberts said. ‘‘I almost wanted to get him back out there, his pitch count was so low. Just watching the Diamondbacks players swing, there was definitely some deception in what he was throwing. So, yeah, it was great.’’

Chapman seeking US citizenship

Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman told the New York Post on Friday that he is in the process of applying for United States citizenship.

The Cuban-born pitcher told the Post he started the application process last year.

“Eventually, when I become a citizen, if it happens, it’s going to be something great,’’ Chapman said.

Last week, Chapman, 28, received a 30-game suspension by Major League Baseball for violating the domestic violence policy.

Wounded birds

Orioles utilityman Jimmy Paredes is out indefinitely after he bruised his left wrist diving for a ball in Thursday’s game against the Rays. An MRI determined there was no soft tissue damage. Another Oriole, lefthander Brian Matusz, was diagnosed with a lower back strain . . . The Cardinals’ Matt Holliday was scheduled to make his spring training debut but was scratched because of tightness in his back. He is day-to-day.

They meet again

Jordan Zimmermann retired eight of his nine batters in his Detroit debut against his former team, though the Tigers went on to lose to the Nationals, 8-4, in Viera, Fla.

‘‘It’s definitely fun getting out there and attacking these guys after all the smack talk,’’ a smiling Zimmermann said. ‘‘They said when I moved on they were going to take me deep. It was a good outing.’’

Washington’s Stephen Strasburg struck out five but gave up the first of Bryan Holaday’s two two-run homers.

Holaday is 6 for 8 with three homers and eight RBIs this spring.

Nationals manager Dusty Baker said closer Jonathan Papelbon left the team to take care of a family emergency, but is expected back soon.

Rough introduction

New Astros closer Ken Giles gave up two runs in one inning in his debut for Houston, which lost, 3-1, to the Mets in Kissimmee, Fla. Giles entered in the fifth inning with a 1-0 lead, and gave up a double and triple on his first two pitches. Mets shortstop Ruben Tejada went 0 for 2 with a walk in his first game since breaking his leg on a hard slide by Chase Utley of the Dodgers in last year’s playoffs . . . Former Red Sox lefty Rich Hill debuted with the Athletics, allowing five of the eight batters he faced to reach base in an 8-8 tie with the Brewers in Mesa, Ariz.

Braves dump Carpenter

The Braves started paring down their pitching staff, releasing righthander David Carpenter. Carpenter was a key part of the Braves’ 2013 NL East-winning team, going 4-1 with a 1.78 ERA while serving as the main setup guy. After struggling last season for the Yankees and Nationals, Carpenter returned to Atlanta as a free agent. Braves general manager John Coppolella announced that lefthanded reliever Andrew McKirahan is expected to miss the season after being diagnosed with a torn ulnar collateral ligament. McKirahan, 26, is likely headed for his second Tommy John surgery, after having the procedure in 2012. McKirahan missed 80 games last season after being suspended for testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs. He wound up pitching in 27 games, going 1-0 with a 5.93 ERA.