It Gets Better for Trachsel

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., March 6 -- Steve Trachsel's last outing against the St. Louis Cardinals was so disastrous, it likely cost him millions of dollars in the free agent market.

In Game 3 of the National League Championship Series last October, Trachsel -- then a pitcher for the New York Mets -- was pounded for five runs and five hits in one inning. The stakes were much lower in Tuesday's Grapefruit League meeting between the Baltimore Orioles and the Cardinals, which ended in a 2-2 tie.

It's "completely different," said Trachsel, who signed with the Orioles in February after starter Kris Benson learned he had a torn rotator cuff. "Here, I'm working on things. There, I was just trying to get through some innings."

Trachsel allowed one run in three innings on Tuesday.

"It's a big difference having the ball down in the zone," Trachsel said. "It's that simple, really. A couple balls in the first inning were up, and they were hit hard. In the next couple innings, the ball was down in the zone. If I field my position on one ball, they don't score. That was an adjustment I wanted to make, and hopefully we just continue to do that."

Trachsel improved on his Orioles debut of last Thursday, when he allowed three runs in one inning against the Florida Marlins.

"I was pleased with him," Orioles Manager Sam Perlozzo said. "He got his feet on the ground. I'm sure he's not where he wants to be yet. But that was a good outing compared to what it was the first time. I'm sure he feels better about it.

"He got the ball up a little bit, but he made adjustments this time out. He was able to do that and got some of these breaking balls over, changed speeds a little bit and got some hitters off balance. That's what he has to do, mix his pitches."

Bench Coach Remains Out

Perlozzo said bench coach Tom Trebelhorn, who went home to Arizona to tend to his ailing wife, Elizabeth Black, is scheduled to rejoin the team on Saturday. Black suffered a brain aneurysm several weeks ago and is still in serious condition

"That's just kind of a day-to-day thing with him," Perlozzo said. "I can't give you a set thing. He was going to come back five or six days ago and there was a setback. We're going to keep hoping for the best."

Perlozzo said the team had begun to discuss alternatives with bullpen coach Dave Trembley should Trebelhorn not be able to return full time this season.

"We've discussed options and haven't come up with a set plan but we've been working on it on a daily basis," Perlozzo said. "Like I said, every time I talk to him something seems to change. We need a couple other options in case something were to happen that we don't want to see and we'll try to make the best decision at that time."

Ray Duels Pujols Perhaps the highlight of Tuesday's game was a sixth-inning battle between Orioles closer Chris Ray and Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols, which ended in a double for the first baseman. "He had a great hitter and our closer didn't back down," Perlozzo said. "That's what you want to see." Up Next vs. Marlins in Jupiter, 1:05 p.m.