If it were up to Orioles veteran right-hander Kevin Millwood, he would pitch through his right forearm strain.
It's not his decision, however. So Millwood, who lasted just one inning Monday in the third-shortest start of his 14-season career, was placed on the 15-day disabled list Tuesday to make room for outfielder Felix Pie, who was activated from the 60-day disabled list.
"It's tough when you present a situation to somebody like Kevin, who likes the ball," interim manager Juan Samuel said. "We were in [the manager's office] for a long time. It definitely was not something that he wanted to do. ÃÂÃÂ But we were just looking out for the best interests of everybody."
Millwood, who is 2-8 with a 5.77 ERA, allowed three earned runs or fewer in eight of his first 10 starts but has given up four or more earned runs in seven of his past eight. He bottomed out Monday, surrendering five runs while recording just three outs.
"It is frustrating," Millwood said. "You want to be able to go out and try to help your team, and not being able to do that is frustrating. The way things were going, I wasn't helping much anyway."
Millwood said he began experiencing soreness about a week ago, feeling it more in between starts than during games. He's not blaming it for his recent run of ineffectiveness.
"I don't think this has anything to do with that. I just wasn't throwing the ball well, wasn't throwing the ball where I wanted to or where I needed to. [The strain] may come from trying to do too much to get it right," Millwood said.
Millwood saw a doctor Monday, when the forearm strain was diagnosed, but he will be re-examined in Texas by team orthopedist Dr. John Wilckens, Samuel said.
"We are going to see when we get to Texas [for the series that starts Thursday] what the plan is once Dr. Wilckens will look at him," Samuel said.
Millwood does not expect to be shelved for more than the required 15 days.
While watching his start Monday, Samuel and pitching coach Rick Kranitz noticed a sharp drop in Millwood's velocity -- his fastball at times was clocked at 86 mph -- and a lack of crispness in his pitches.
Kranitz theorized that a heavy early workload -- Millwood threw 110 or more pitches in half of his starts and 100 or more in nine of his first 10 -- might have led to his problems.
"It was an accumulation of packing on a lot of pitches in a short amount of time, which will get anybody," Kranitz said. "The more times you have to throw and go forward in a short period of time, there's bound to be some sort of issue."
A pending free agent, Millwood was considered the club's best trade chip when he pitched well in the season's first two months, but a brutal June sapped the Orioles' hope of getting a top prospect at July31's nonwaiver trade deadline. The DL stint, however, probably has little effect on his trade value, since he likely would pass through waivers with his hefty contract -- meaning he could be traded in August if he pitches well when he returns.
Pie is back, excited
Pie, who hasn't played for the Orioles since April 15 because of a torn muscle in his back, made his return Tuesday, batting seventh and playing left field.
"I'm excited; it's been a long time," Pie said, "I'm feeling ready; I feel OK. No pain in my shoulder, nothing."
Because Pie hasn't played in the majors since April, Samuel said he would try not to overextend the outfielder. Pie likely will play tonight in Detroit, but Samuel said he'll then see how Pie is feeling before he decides when he plays next.
"It's going to be tough for Felix because when he is out there, he is going to go 100miles an hour. So we have to make sure that we play it safe with him," Samuel said.
Pie, who had batted .400 in eight games before the injury, picked up where he left off Tuesday, singling in his first at-bat and driving in a run with a seventh-inning single.
Tillman to start Saturday?
With Millwood on the DL, the Orioles will need a starter Saturday in Texas, the club's penultimate game of the first half of the season. It's possible they could have a reliever, such as Mark Hendrickson, make a spot start.
But with the bullpen already taxed, Samuel said it's more likely the team will summon someone from the minors. The most likely candidate to be recalled is Chris Tillman, who was 0-3 with an 8.40 ERA in four starts with the Orioles but is 3-0 with a 1.66 ERA in three starts at Triple-A Norfolk since his demotion June 22. He would be on regular rest Saturday.
Tillman has been back at Norfolk only a short time, but Kranitz doesn't think another promotion would rush Tillman.
"I expect him to come up [if recalled] and do exactly what he's been doing in Triple-A," Kranitz said. "There's going to be a time when it translates over. To me, there's no better time to bring a guy up, you know, than when they are pitching well."
If Tillman is recalled, the Orioles would have to send down another player. That could be third baseman Josh Bell, who was a candidate for demotion before Millwood was placed on the DL.
"We didn't feel at this point we needed to send Bell down. We still think we could get him a few games here and there," Samuel said of Bell, who was 2-for-11 in his first three games.
"We'll see what the decision is going to be on Saturday. If that's going to be the one, maybe he needs to go down at that point. But right now, we want to keep him around."
Atkins released
The Orioles announced that first baseman Garrett Atkins cleared waivers and was given his unconditional release. He is free to sign with another team. Atkins had one homer and nine RBIs in 140 at-bats with the Orioles this season.
He was signed in the offseason to a one-year, $4.5 million deal, which the Orioles are required to pay. If he plays in the majors with another club this year, that team would be responsible to pay him the prorated $400,000 minimum salary.
In another transaction, the Orioles placed left-handed reliever Michael Gonzalez on a rehabilitation assignment with short-season Single-A Aberdeen. Gonzalez threw a perfect inning in the IronBirds' 6-2 win over Lowell on Tuesday night.
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