Feeling no ill effects, Papelbon says he was "just a tick off"

VIERA, Fla. - Jonathan Papelbon's line in Friday's 9-5 victory over the Mets may not look pretty, but the Nationals closer says he's not worried.

Papelbon said he was feeling no ill effects after a bug making its way through the clubhouse forced him to miss his scheduled outing Thursday. It wasn't a matter of having not pitched for four days.

"I just was a tick off," Papelbon said.

Papelbon, making his second ninth-inning appearance of the spring, couldn't complete the frame. Manager Dusty Baker hooked him after he had allowed four runs (three earned) on two hits and three walks while retiring only two hitters. Papelbon came into the game with a 9-1 lead but said he left feeling none the worse for wear.

For a veteran pitcher, a spring outing is all about feel. And despite the unsightly numbers, Papelbon said he felt fine.

"My biggest thing is in spring training, if I feel strong, my legs (are) underneath me, the ball's coming out great," he said. "That, for me, is a great sign. Location, the little things, I can tweak. Those will all come. But feeling strong and healthy, the way I felt today - yeah, I was a little bit sick a few days ago - but the legs are underneath me and I feel strong. I've never felt this strong in a while, in a long time."

Baker would have let Papelbon continue to fight through things had it not been for the fact that he had elevated his pitch count. Papelbon wasn't even scheduled to pitch Friday, but asked to work the ninth inning. Baker wasn't about to take any chances with his closer.

"I went out to get him because his pitch count was at damn near 40, I think," Baker said. "So that's the main reason I went to go get him. I didn't want him to go to 50 or 60. Then you end up getting hurt down here in spring training, then you guys ask me, 'Why is he hurt?' "

Home plate umpire Ed Hickox didn't do Papelbon any favors with a smallish strike zone that had the closer staring in at him incredulously only two batters into the ninth. Five batters deep, Papelbon had loaded the bases and was on the verge of getting out of the inning by allowing only one run on a sac fly. Then came a walk and a two-run single that brought Baker strolling slowly from the first base dugout.

"He was throwing the ball pretty good," Baker said. "He was kind of squeezed and then he got frustrated. You know, he's been sick. We didn't think he was going to pitch today, ... but Pap wants to take the ball and he wants to get ready."

To which Papelbon replied: "No, man. That's just Dusty being a good manager."

Until the ninth, the Nationals had thrown five innings of shutout relief at the Mets, allowing only two hits. Both of them were off righty Michael Brady, who left the game when T.J. Rivera lined a ball off his left knee leading off the sixth.

Asked about Brady, Baker said: "No news is good news. But the umpire did tell me it hit him flush in his knee. That's usually pretty hard, but you just got to watch him and hopefully there's nothing wrong with him."

Stephen Strasburg worked the first three innings for the Nationals, who rallied from a 1-0 deficit by having reserves drive in all nine runs, starting with a three-run third and ending with a five-run eighth. Tony Campana, Logan Schafer and Chris Heisey had two RBIs apiece and Jason Martinson added three hits.

Strasburg said that he was attempting to follow new pitching coach Mike Maddux's direction to try to add new things to his game. The right-hander thought he could have done a better job of varying his times to the plate, something he's struggled with at different points in his career. He gave up a run on three hits with two walks and a strikeout in his outing.

Baker endorsed what Maddux is trying to do with the staff.

"Good pitchers I know are always trying something, and the good hitters I know are always trying something," Baker said. "Try to improve, try to improve on their first-pitch efficiency, try to improve on their pickoff move, holding runners. Stras has been around ... a long time, but he's still very young. He's still kind of scratching the surface on what he may become."