Checking on Koji

By Roch Kubatko

Orioles

May 22, 2010, 2:47pm

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It required a pair of binoculars, but we spotted Koji Uehara sitting at the far left end of the bullpen bench. He's wearing a jacket and he's barely moved. That tells us that he's unavailable. Otherwise, he'd probably be in this game, or he might have warmed up at some point. We took it as a good sign that he was sitting in the bullpen. A seat in the dugout or inside the clubhouse would have confirmed that he couldn't pitch today. But manager Dave Trembley has stuck with Mark Hendrickson since the bottom of the sixth, and Matt Albers was up briefly in the seventh. How much longer can the Orioles wait on Uehara? They need bullpen help, just days after sending down Alberto Castillo and adding another bench player. The Orioles are headed for another tough loss. Six runs should have been enough with Brad Bergesen on the mound, but he didn't have it today and Trembley didn't have many options. Hendrickson's back out for the eighth as the rain continues to fall. It's been an ugly day in many ways.