masn-baseballs-orioles.jpgSARASOTA, Fla. – Reliever Koji Uehara, who was scheduled to pitch today, has come down with a sore right elbow and will receive a cortisone shot this afternoon.

Uehara will be shut down for the next few days and re-evaluated.

The Orioles don’t believe it’s anything serious, but it counts as another health issue in spring training. Uehara has been sidelined with sore hamstrings the last two years.

Here’s the Twins lineup:
Denard Span CF
Tsuyoshi Nishioka SS
Luke Hughes 3B
Joe Benson…SARASOTA, Fla. – Reliever Koji Uehara, who was scheduled to pitch today, has come down with a sore right elbow and will receive a cortisone shot this afternoon.

Uehara will be shut down for the next few days and re-evaluated.

The Orioles don’t believe it’s anything serious, but it counts as another health issue in spring training. Uehara has been sidelined with sore hamstrings the last two years.

Here’s the Twins lineup:
Denard Span CF
Tsuyoshi Nishioka SS
Luke Hughes 3B
Joe Benson RF
Jason Repko LF
Matt Brown DH
Matt Tolbert 1B
Drew Butera C
Alexi Casilla 2B

Carl Pavano RHP

Justin Duchscherer threw 10 pitches off the half mound, 20 off the regular mound and was beaming afterward.

“It felt perfectly fine. It felt like my hip was 100 percent,” he said. “The other day when I was throwing, I got a little tight and came in here and stretched it out. Today, it felt pretty much the way it did before I had an issue, so it’s a very positive step for me.

“It’s a learning process for me. It’s my landing leg. I had surgery on the other hip, so it’s completely different the way they operate, the pitching motions. And knowing that I might have a little soreness or whatever and be able to combat it with some anti-inflammatory and understanding that just because it gets a little flared up doesn’t mean I have to have surgery or something like that. For me going forward, if I have a little soreness, I won’t get as panicked as I was last time.

“Big relief for me. Obviously, I didn’t sign and come here to miss time. As a professional athlete, the worst thing in the world is when you’re missing time and you’re not helping your team. I’ve had a rough go the last couple years and that’s not my goal this year. I want to throw 200 innings and win 20 games and do all the things I’ve always aspired to do. That’s my goal.”

Duchscherer also said he could throw off a mound again Saturday, perhaps in live batting practice.