PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -Koji Uehara was scheduled to pitch four innings yesterday against the New York Mets, and - if all went well - he was going to work a little extra in the bullpen afterward.
All did not go well, and he lasted just two innings in the Orioles' 9-8 loss at Tradition Field.
Uehara struggled with control, ran into what he thought was a rough home plate umpire (Scott Barry) and suffered the first disappointing performance of his young Orioles career.
"I wouldn't call it a disappointment," he said through his interpreter, Jiwon Bang, "but the strike zone was tough. It's just spring training, so I was not concerned about the results."
Manager Dave Trembley didn't seem terribly concerned either, but he wasn't going to leave Uehara out there to get knocked around. He quickly got up reliever Scott Chiasson and sent him in for the third.
Uehara "got his pitches up, but he keeps attacking the hitters," Trembley said. "There were a couple of pitches that could have gone either way, but he kept attacking the strike zone, and that's what you like."
The Orioles took an 8-4 lead into the eighth inning, but reliever Alberto Castillo gave up a game-tying grand slam to pinch hitter Nick Evans in the eighth and a walkoff homer to catcher Rene Rivera in the ninth. The Orioles lost the game in frustrating fashion, but Uehara did not lose his sense of humor.
Asked why he lasted two innings, he didn't sugarcoat a thing: "You can call it a knockout."
More rest for Parrish
Left-hander John Parrish, already ruled out of the rotation competition by Trembley, has been shut down to rest the inflammation in his throwing shoulder. Parrish felt tightness and soreness when he was throwing from 120 feet last week.
"I'm trying to knock it out before it gets out of hand," said Parrish, who was signed to a minor league deal in February after pitching last season for the Toronto Blue Jays organization. "It's frustrating, but it's still in me to pitch. As long as I get healthy at some point, to be able to pitch this year would be good. It's frustrating for me to come in here and be sore, but there's still plenty of time to get things healthy and get on a roll."
Parrish's contract says he can opt out of his pact with the Orioles if he's not on the major league roster by April 3, three days before Opening Day. Trembley has ruled out Parrish's making the club, meaning the 31-year-old will have a decision to make soon.
