Uehara

JOLTIN' JOLBERT Veteran utility infielder Jolbert Cabrera remains an extreme long shot to make the Orioles' Opening Day roster, but that's no fault of his. Cabrera reached base in all four of his plate appearances Monday in Fort Myers, Fla., going 2-for-2 with two walks. He is hitting .448 this spring. Cabrera, who signed a minor league deal this offseason, tied the game at two with a double to the wall in the second inning. He doubled again in the seventh and scored on Justin Turner's single.

JONES LAUNCHES ONE Center fielder Adam Jones hit a tremendous two-run home run off Cardinals pitcher Todd Wellemeyer. The ball landed on the second-story roof of the Florida Marlins' clubhouse behind left field and bounced over the building. There was a breeze blowing in that direction, but it was a legitimate moon shot - the kind Mark McGwire used to hit here during batting practice. ZAUN SCRATCHED Catcher Gregg Zaun was scratched from the starting lineup with tightness in his elbow.

DETROIT -- Orioles rookie right-hander David Hernandez's schooling at the major league level included another valuable lesson Thursday. Learn to survive when you don't have your best pitching arsenal. Making his 10th start in the majors, Hernandez lasted just three innings - the shortest outing of his career - in the Orioles' 7-3 loss to the Detroit Tigers. His mid-90s fastball, his normal out pitch, sat at 90 mph. "He didn't have anything," Orioles manager Dave Trembley said. "He competed, but I had to get him out of there."

ARLINGTON, Texas - When the top of the fourth inning finally ended on Monday and the Orioles' offense had flexed its muscles one more time in this young season, Koji Uehara jogged out to the mound and offered congratulatory fist bumps to Ty Wigginton and Aubrey Huff. There was no need for a translator. The appreciation and admiration shown by the Japanese pitcher was obvious. On a night when Uehara had all sorts of problems with the Texas Rangers' lineup, the offense the pitcher previously described as reliable and the back end of the bullpen bailed him out. The Orioles, wearing "Baltimore" across their road jerseys for the first time since the 1972 season, saw their six-run, sixth-inning lead whittled to just a run by the end of the seventh.

During next week's winter meetings in Las Vegas, the Orioles expect to have face-to-face discussions with the agents for two Japanese starting pitchers. John Stockstill, the Orioles' international scouting director, said he has set up tentative meetings with Dan Evans, the agent for Kenshin Kawakami, and Mark Pieper, who represents Koji Uehara. Orioles officials also are considering other Japanese players, including left-handed reliever Ken Takahashi, although Kawakami and Uehara fit the club's biggest need: starting pitching.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -When Brian Roberts signed the four-year, $40 million contract extension that ties him to the Orioles through the 2013 season, he did so without getting significant no-trade protection for the first couple years of the deal. Roberts had a very limited no-trade clause for the final year of his previous contract, allowing him to designate four teams to which he could not be traded. That was carried forward when the final year of the old deal was rolled into what essentially is a new five-year contract.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - Orioles infielder Chris Gomez has played 16 seasons in the big leagues and knows not to get too concerned by a prolonged spring training slump. However, he also is acutely aware of his shaky roster status with the club, making his .115 Grapefruit League average a little tougher to swallow. "That's where it becomes a concern," said Gomez, who went 1-for-2 in the Orioles' 4-0 loss to the New York Mets yesterday and is 3-for-26 this spring. " ... I'm not on the team for sure, so that makes it not very good timing on my part."

Orioles right fielder Nick Markakis took a couple of steps back toward the wall before his head shifted to the ground just as Michael Young's game-winning, two-run homer off George Sherrill disappeared into the right-field seats. It should have never gotten to that point. Not for the Orioles, who had a three-run lead on the Texas Rangers in the seventh inning but squandered multiple opportunities to break the game open. And not for Sherrill, who had four chances to put away Ian Kinsler with two strikes and couldn't get it done.

After a brief call-up a few weeks ago, Orioles rookie right-hander David Hernandez was fairly confident he would get another opportunity to pitch in Baltimore this year. After allowing three runs in 5 2/3 innings in Sunday's 5-3 loss to the Washington Nationals, Hernandez showed why he was the club's first option when Koji Uehara was placed on the disabled list. "When I got sent down, I knew there were things I needed to work on. It wasn't the end of the world," said Hernandez, 24, who is now 1-2 with a 4.19 ERA in three starts with the Orioles.