FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Admittedly, the circumstances weren't the best for Daniel Bard Thursday.
Attempting to make the transition from reliever to starter, Bard has been splitting games with Alfredo Aceves, who is trying to make the same switch and Thursday, it was Bard's turn to pitch second.
That meant he came in for the sixth inning and didn't feel much like a starting assignment. Worse, after he faced one hitter, a rain shower hit Jet Blue Park and Bard had to sit out a delay.
Still, the results weren't good: Bard was rocked for seven runs on six hits and four walks in 2 23 innings in the Red Sox' 9-6 loss to the world champion St. Louis Cardinals.
"He's probably had better days," concluded manager Bobby Valentine.
In his previous two outings against major league teams, Bard had pitched five innings with four strikeouts and didn't give up a run while allowing two hits.
But Thursday represented a poor outing.
"Physically, I feel great," said Bard. "But obviously, I wasn't in the strike zone enough. I wasn't throwing strike one. I just need to get a little more aggressive early in the count with the middle of the strike zone."
Bard acknowledged the rain interruption and resulting delay "threw me off a little bit. I've done it many times before and it's not something that should affect me. I think if anything, I kind of lost that adrenaline rush that keeps you going out there, keeps you aggressive."
"Starting" a game in the sixth inning -- after four innings from Aceves and a solo frame from Justin Thomas -- was an adjustment.
"It's weird, because I was trying to treat it like a start," he said. "I did my stuff in the training room, like I did for my other starts. But then I went and sat in the bullpen for four or five innings, so I couldn't really use the whole routine I've tried to established."
Part of the transition for Bard has involved using more of his repertoire regularly, including a changeup.
"I think my stuff has been fine," said Bard. "It's more about aggressiveness in the (strike) zone. I'm used to coming in for one inning and being OK with walking a guy because you don't want to give up a big hit. So, I've been trained to pitch on the outside edges of the zone as much as I can.
"I still want to pitch that way as a starter, but at the same time, you've got to pitch to the middle of the zone and let guys put it in play. That's something I'm learning, (along) with trying to find that rhythm going back and forth between the windup and the stretch. I think it will all come."
In the meantime, Bard knows he's being evaluated in his new role and has to impress.
"I know they want me to do well," said Bard of the team's evaluators. "They've been more than supportive so far. At the same time, if I'm not proving myself... I don't think they're looking strictly at results. I better be close. We've only got about 2 12 weeks left."
It will help that Aceves will face minor leaguers in his next time, meaning Bard will get a chance to actually start a Grapefruit League game and get back into a more nornal routine.