Perez adjusting on the fly in first yea

PHILADELPHIA -- Pitching in the big leagues has brought Cardinals reliever Chris Perez plenty of new challenges, and not just in terms of the quality of the competition.

Perez has pitched earlier in games than he's used to and pitched longer than he's used to. A pitcher who has closed out wins for most of his professional and college career has often pitched with his team trailing.

Most of all, he's had to adjust to longer appearances. After years of being conditioned to pitch a single inning, Perez has been asked to get four or more outs in four of his past eight appearances. And it hasn't always gone well -- Perez has definitely been more effective in his first inning, and on his first 15-20 pitches.

Not that he's worried.

"I think it's just a coincidence," he said. "Going into last year, they said I couldn't get lefties out, and then they hit under .150 against me. I do the same things. It's just more hits and stuff in the second inning."

On his first 15 pitches of a game, opponents are batting .196 and slugging .255 against Perez. After that, they're batting .313 and slugging .656.

"A couple of times, we've needed him to go beyond the one inning, he's gone deeper, and it's a different mind-set for him," said manager Tony La Russa. "I don't think you're ever going to make him somebody that's going to be a two-inning or 30- or 40-pitch reliever. It's just the expediency of the moment."

So the Cardinals will prefer to use Perez in shorter outings, but he may still be called on at times to go a little longer. Either way, he could be a key cog against a Pirates team with a couple of dangerous right-handed bats.

(mlb.com)