Notes

ORIOLES Arrieta sent to minors

BALTIMORE - Jake Arrieta couldn’t get his mind right on the mound and had difficulty throwing pitches over the plate, and now the Baltimore Orioles right-hander will attempt to rectify those shortcomings in the minor leagues.

Arrieta was optioned to Class AAA Norfolk on Monday, one day after he walked five and hit a batter over four-plus innings in a 7-4 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Although Arrieta gave up only two hits against the Dodgers, he was charged with five runs and needed 91 pitches to get 12 outs. The 27-yearold Arrieta is 1-1 with a 6.63 ERA in four starts and has walked 16 in 19 innings.

“I just wasn’t doing my job well enough. That’s the bottom line,” he said before clearing out his locker. “The team needs me to be better.”

Arrieta’s discussion with Manager Buck Showalter on Monday centered upon the pitcher getting his mind right.

“We talked about high anxiety situations and he pretty much asked me, ‘Why do you have high anxiety in any situation with the stuff you have?’ ” Arrieta said. “Basically, I told him that I just want to be what my team needs me to be.

Sometimes I create the anxiety for myself. So I just need to limit that.”

Arrieta retired the first six batters he faced Sunday, but it all came apart after that.

“I let previous instances creep up in my thought process sometimes,” he said. “I think that’s where things go awry and that’s where the walks come in. I’m not giving up many hits, just putting them on base for free. I’ve just got to command the ball better in the strike zone. That’s pretty much it.”

Showalter said, “The thing he’s got to solve is the mental side of it. He knows he can help this club win. We know he can.”Wells traded to Athletics

OAKLAND, Calif. - The Oakland Athletics have bought outfielder Casper Wells from the Toronto Blue Jays.

The A’s transferred infielder Scott Sizemore to the 60-day disabled list Monday to clear a spot on the 40-man roster. Oakland will make a move to put Wells on the 25-man roster once he joins the team in Boston.

Wells spent spring training with Seattle but did not make the team. The Blue Jays claimed him off waivers April 10 and he did not play a game before being designated for assignment.

The 28-year-old Wells hit .228 with 10 home runs and 36 RBI in 93 games with the Mariners last season.

Sizemore is out for the season with a left knee injury.

INDIANS

Myers to miss month on mound

CHICAGO - Cleveland Indians right-hander

Brett Myers is expected to miss about a month

due to tendinitis and a mild ligament sprain in

his right elbow.

Myers pitched five innings of three-run ball

against Houston on Friday, then said he had been

dealing with a problem with the flex or tendon in

his arm since spring training. He is 0-3 with an

8.02 ERA in three starts and one relief appearances this season, allowing 10 home runs.

The Indians placed Myers on the disabled list

Sunday and made the move retroactive to Saturday. The pitcher returned to Cleveland over the

weekend, where he was diagnosed with right elbow tendinitis and a mild ulnar collateral ligament

sprain. He will stop throwing for two weeks, and

then be evaluated again.

“It is what it is. I don’t think he felt like it was

going to be worse than that,” Manager Terry

Francona said before the Indians faced the Chicago White Sox on Monday. “The two weeks

down, and then hopefully get him on a good

throwing program, get him back on the mound

helping us.”

The 32-year-old Myers agreed to a $7 million,

one-year contract in January that includes an $8

million club option for 2014, part of an active

off season for the Indians. He is 97-96 with a4.25 ERA in 381 career games.

“I think what he said in spring was normal soreness that he thought he could pitch through and for whatever reason it didn’t go that way this time,” Francona said.

Right-hander Corey Kluber will start in Myers’ place Wednesday against the White Sox.

BLUE JAYS Dickey to pitch despite soreness

BALTIMORE - Toronto Blue Jays right-hander R.A. Dickey expects to make his scheduled start today against the Baltimore Orioles despite being bothered by soreness in his neck and back.

Dickey was forced to leave his last start April 18 after throwing six shutout innings against the Chicago White Sox. The knuckle baller says he first experienced the injury in his previous start at Kansas City.

Before Toronto faced Baltimore on Monday, Dickey said, “I feel better than I did leading into my last start. I think we’ve given it enough rest and treatment.”

Dickey skipped his bullpen session between starts, choosing to play catch on the side instead.

The 38-year-old wasn’t sure how long he would last today, saying, “It tends to tighten up as the game goes along.”

Sports, Pages 20 on 04/23/2013

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