MiLB: Kazmir all smiles after bizarre rehab stint

Bend and stretch
Reach for the stars
Here comes Jupiter
There goes mars...a freakin’ Kazmir start!

JUPITER, Fla—Don’t expect Tampa Bay starting pitcher Scott Kazmir to be requesting morning games at Tropicana Field anytime soon. The left-hander gave up four earned runs and worked into the fifth inning on Wednesday in the Class A Advanced Vero Beach Devil Rays’ 4-3 loss to the Palm Beach Cardinals in a game that started in the morning and ended with Kazmir going back and forth from the mound to the bullpen due to a pitch-count misunderstanding.

“It was frustrating,” Kazmir said following his 64-pitch effort, his second start following a left elbow strain in late February. “I wanted to work on a lot of things and stretch myself out. I felt strong. [pitching coach Jim] Hickey and I were both on the same page, but it didn’t happen.”

...With reliever Ryan Morse warming up in the bullpen, Kazmir stood nearby and waited while the staff communicated with Tampa Bay coaches. Eventually, he was allowed to go back to the mound for the bottom of the fifth inning, though he said he tried to do too much in a few pitches.

“They said if I threw seven pitches, they were taking me out. I was just throwing fastballs down the middle, saying, ‘Please, just get yourself out.’ The only thing that was going through my head that last inning was, ‘How can I get out of this inning in three pitches?’ “It’s frustrating because I wanted to get back out there and throw all my pitches. I thought I set myself up to do that, but the way it ended was unnecessary.”