Moore is less

Triple-A Norfolk infielder Scott Moore left today's game in Syracuse after one at-bat because of a strained hamstring. He's expected to be sidelined for about a week. Paco Figueroa, just promoted from Double-A Bowie, replaced Moore at second base. Ty Wigginton has the game's only hit as we enter the bottom of the third inning. He lined a single to left field. He's my favorite player today, in case you didn't notice. Here are a few more pre-game comments from manager Dave Trembley, who tackled a variety of topics: On young players being more inclined to hide injuries: "I think if you're winning it's easier, and I think if you've been an established player maybe here in the big leagues for a while, I think that's easier. I think when you're still trying to establish yourself, you want to play, you want to be out there. You don't see down the road that maybe you're doing something to hurt your career three, four, five years down the road. They don't see that. They see now. And then if you're playing and you're not winning...it's like (Brad) Bergesen. He was crying in my office the night I sent him out in Seattle. He said, 'Dave, I wanted to really be the guy that helped turn this thing around.' I had to tell him, 'Bergy, the reason we turn this thing around is not going to be just because of you. It's going to be because of everybody.' (He said), 'Well I want to be the guy, I want to do so much.' "In a lot of ways, it's a tremendous, tremendous quality that they have, but you've got to make them see that you're not crying wolf. We know the makeup of the person. No one is ever going to question the integrity of a Bergesen or a (Jim) Johnson or some of these other guys when they say, 'Hey I'm not feeling good out there.' But it takes a lot for those guys to do it. I don't know what the definitive answer is on that, but the longer I'm in this thing, I see it and that's why you have to keep tabs on them and it can't be just the casual, 'Hey, how are you doing today? How are you feeling?' You've got to watch them. "When I saw Bergesen throwing 50 percent sliders when he's a sinker-ball pitcher, that was such a red flag to me. Something's going on here. One, he didn't have confidence in his sinker and two, his arm strength wasn't built up. He was trying to trick them. When I saw Jim Johnson coming in throwing the amount of breaking balls that he was throwing -- breaking balls, breaking balls, breaking balls -- something's going on here. It's with pitchers more so than the other guys. "You think about it because we have so many young guys, so many young ones. I didn't know about Bergesen last night - he was pitching with a split nail for a few innings last night. He wasn't going to say anything and Richie (Bancells) had to glue it all up today. And Bergesen, all of a sudden, he's all worried about his sideline tomorrow. He didn't even have the ice pack off his arm. These guys, they're an interesting breed of guys. They're young." On Koji Uehara entering last night's game with two outs in the eighth: "With respect to Koji, that's the first time he's come in all year in the middle of an inning. He hasn't done that yet. That's a little bit different for him. Warming up probably was a little bit different for him. Everybody gets so bent out of shape because it's so alarming to see him walk somebody because he never walks anybody. For him to do that, that's like astronomical. But if that's the worst it's going to get, I'll take it because he'll throw it over the plate. "We're glad to have Koji and I think Koji's glad to be here. He brings some life, somebody to look forward to down in that bullpen that you know has got a lot of experience, who's going to come in and give you a different look. He has a pretty good track record." On the reports he receives on Chris Tillman: "I'm hearing and reading and seeing that his command is better. His command is better. The ball's coming out of his hand better. He's working on the changeup more. More aggressive at the start of the game. The first inning has always been kind of a bugaboo for him, not getting right after it in the first inning. I'm hearing his approach is much more aggressive, much better. The kid's 21 years old. He's got the world in front of him." Tillman actually turned 22 on April 15, but point made.