Strop shows glimpse of old self against Rays

ST. PETERSBURG -- Orioles reliever Pedro Strop threw a scoreless eighth inning in Saturday's 8-0 loss to the Rays, an encouraging sign for the right-hander in his first appearance off the disabled list.

"Everything felt in line," said Strop, who used most of the time he was on the DL with a lower back injury to work on his mechanics with pitching coach Rick Adair. "I felt like I had command of all my pitches. It was a better feeling."

Before hitting the DL, Strop was 0-2 with a 6.11 ERA in 22 appearances for the Orioles, allowing 12 earned runs over 17 2/3 innings pitched. The organization is hopeful he can get back to the form he had in the first half of last season.

"There's a lot of things you work on, and when they're healthy to do it, and if he can just repeat it," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. "Sometimes the emotions get in the way of the mechanics. It was a good first step for him. I know he felt good about it. Was a positive out of the game yesterday.

"It's not like Pete hasn't pitched any good innings out of the bullpen for us this year; it's just he hasn't been as consistent as he was last year. That's a good start. We will see where it takes us."