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PAWTUCKET, R.I. -- Boston Red Sox reliever Mike Timlin
admittedly overcame a case of nerves while pitching a scoreless
inning Friday night in a rehab assignment with Triple-A Pawtucket.  Timlin "I haven't been on the mound since the first [of May] against a
hitter," said Timlin, who was placed on Boston's disabled list on
May 3 because of right-shoulder tendinitis. He said his jumpiness may have led him to hit his first batter,
Wayne Lydon, in the back for an error on a throw to first base
after Lydon hit a dribbler to the right of the mound. "I was a little nervous. My mechanics were a little bit off. I
got a guy on first base [Lydon] and kind of rushed to the plate a
little bit," Timlin said. Timlin threw 16 pitches, seven for strikes, in the seventh
inning of Pawtucket's 10-4 victory over Syracuse. After Lydon, Timlin walked Howie Clark on four pitches but
induced Curtis Thigpen to hit a grounder to second for a double
play. Timlin retired Chad Mottola on a grounder to second. The sinkerball pitcher said his control probably suffered
because "you need to have a certain tiredness in your arm to have
the feel of the sinker and I don't have that yet." But he said his shoulder is sound and he feels his strength is
there. His fastest pitch was 92 mph. Timlin said he expects to pitch one inning again Sunday for
Pawtucket.
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