Oswalt, Washington say they have no problems
The Texas Rangers and Roy Oswalt took more steps Tuesday to end any confusion over what happened when the right-hander declined to take the ball for a third inning of relief Sunday.
Oswalt met with manager Ron Washington on Tuesday to clear up any lingering questions.
It didn't appear, however, that Washington had any.
"I didn't know anything wasn't fine before," Washington said when asked if everything was OK between the pitcher and manager. "We met and cleared the air about what was said and moved on."
Washington on Sunday said Oswalt said "he couldn't go any longer" after two perfect innings in which he threw a total of 30 pitches. Asked why, Washington referred reporters to Oswalt, who was not available at the time and who declined comment Monday.
Oswalt had thrown 150 pitches over the course of three outings by the time his Sunday appearance was done. Both he and Washington, however, said he threw a 40- to 50-pitch bullpen session during the week as well in case the Rangers wanted to make one turn through the rotation with six pitchers to give everybody extra rest. When he decided he couldn't go back out, Oswalt had more than 200 pitches on his arm for the week and had thrown off a mound in some fashion four times in seven days.
Oswalt has made it clear to the Rangers that he'd prefer to start, but he said he hasn't asked the club to trade or release him.
"I didn't think the situation was any big deal, but I just wanted to clarify things," Oswalt said Tuesday before Texas' 6-3 win at Boston. "I think it grew into a big story because some things got confused and maybe not everybody knew how many pitches I'd thrown. If I had gone back out there for another inning, I'm looking at 250 or so pitches in the course of a week. I wanted to just try and do my role and stay healthy."
As for his role in the bullpen, Oswalt said he understands it but still isn't happy about it.
"I'm down there unless they tell me something else," Oswalt said. "But anybody who has been put in the 'pen after 12 or 15 years as a starter wouldn't be happy about it. If they were, they wouldn't be much of a competitor. That's all."
