Mets Rough Up Uehara

UPDATE

Well this might explain things...

The Baltimore Sun's Peter Schmuck is reporting that Koji Uehara will miss at least one start after straining his hamstring during Monday's start.

While Uehara has been playing down his injury and didn't blame it for his poor start, the Orioles are taking extra precaution and planning to halt his conditioning schedule for a week in addition to skipping his next start.

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Well the honeymoon had to end sometime. After two stellar spring training starts, Japanese import Koji Uehara experiences his first major league struggles in the Orioles' 9-8 loss to the New York Mets.

Uehara was slated to pitch four innings but only lasted two, the result of an elevated pitch count and some command issues. In his two innings of work, Uehara gave up three runs on four hits while collecting a pair of walks and strikeouts.

Uehara's rough outing led to the Orioles coughing up a three-run lead that was provided in the top of the first inning as Lou Montanez doubled in Ryan Freel which was followed by a two-run blast off the bat of Ty Wigginton.

Late fireworks ultimately gave the Mets the win as Orioles reliever Alberto Castillo gave up an eighth-inning grand slam to first baseman Nick Evans and a ninth-inning solo shot to catcher Rene Rivera.

If this were the regular season the question would be if it's better to lose via a near no-hitter or by giving up five runs in the final two innings. But since it's still the spring, the focus remains on Koji Uehara who seemed unfazed by his first poor outing because, well, it's spring training.

"I wouldn't call it a disappointment,'' he said, "but the strike zone was tough. It's just spring training, so I was not concerned about the results."

Today the Orioles continue their road trip as they face the Boston Red Sox. Baltimore will offer up Brian Bass in his first spring training start. Bass had been considered for a long relief role but the recent spate of injuries has put him into the conversation for one of the open rotation slots.