Chris Lee on outing: "I need to be more efficient than that"

SARASOTA, Fla. - It was just a spring training game. It won't count for much once the regular season starts. But for 24-year-old left-hander Chris Lee, tonight probably felt like a lot more.

With the days left on the spring schedule dwindling, it was his latest chance to audition for the Orioles' fifth starter job. Lee entered his fifth spring appearance and second start with real good numbers: an ERA of 1.64 and just two runs allowed over 11 innings.

But then he gave up two runs in a 27-pitch first inning to Tampa Bay this evening at Ed Smith Stadium and was in more trouble in the second when the Rays loaded the bases. Lee pitched out of that jam, but with his pitch count at 55 after two innings, that was the end of his outing.

He showed some decent velocity, touching the mid-90s at times. He also got into some favorable counts with batters, but just could not put them away.

"Overall, I felt like I didn't finish enough," Lee said. "Something you just can't dwell on. Just will have to get back out there and keep on working on stuff and just pounding the zone. Be more efficient next time.

"I was going too deep in counts and not making the right pitches, finishing early. I need to be more efficient than that. Get two strikes and put them away quick as possible."

Over two innings, he gave up five hits and two runs, with two walks and one strikeout. He threw 32 of his 55 pitches for strikes. For the spring, he has yielded four runs and 12 hits over 13 innings for an ERA of 2.77.

After his last start - when he pitched three scoreless innings versus Philadelphia on Thursday - Lee said he was nervous. How about tonight?

"There are always some good butterflies," he said. "I go out there and the passion gets my adrenaline running real fast. So always, after the first pitch, I was able to cool back down and try to relax as much as possible so the game doesn't speed up on me."

He gave up RBI singles in the first inning to Brad Miller and Colby Rasmus. The Rays loaded the bases in the second on two singles, an error and a walk. That brought up Evan Longoria and Lee was in a real tough spot. But he got the Rays third baseman to ground out to third to strand three runners.

On a night where he may have taken a step back and hurt his chances to win a rotation spot, Lee finished big. He showed some moxie there, getting Longoria out with the bases loaded.

"The main thing was to try and stay low in the zone," he said of that at-bat. "Don't let him get it in the air. Don't miss my spot inside. I know he likes to pull the ball a lot, so I was trying to stay off his hot zone and get out there as quick as possible before my pitch counts got too high."

Lee said he has not changed anything about how he has gone after hitters, even with his last two games coming in starts and with the stakes higher.

"No, I have the same approach," he said. "Just trying to go out and get ground balls and throw the least amount of pitches as possible. This time it was not working my favor."