Okajima has been blowing his inheritance

Hideki Okajima had reason to sweat after surrendering a descive grand slam to Jay Payton, the latest of the lefty's woes. (Joe Giza/Reuters)

BALTIMORE - Hideki Okajima might as well leave his interpreter behind, because after yesterday's 6-3 loss to the Orioles, in which the lefthanded reliever allowed a seventh-inning grand slam to Jay Payton, he couldn't muster a word of explanation.

Payton not only caught a changeup, but apparently Okajima's tongue.

It's great that he had worked 9 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings entering yesterday's game, that he had opened the season with 7 2/3 scoreless innings, and that he was 1-0 with a 0.50 ERA (now 0.93). But of the 14 runners he's inherited, 11 have scored, the highest ratio in the American League. He's blown his last four save situations, and is 1 for 5 overall. And he's retired just 11 of 18 first batters he's faced.

It was a tough way to end a 10-game road swing because the Red Sox had a chance to return to Boston for a weekend series against Milwaukee at .500 for the trip. Instead, they went 4-6.

While Okajima was angry enough not to say a word to the media, nobody appears to have any angst about the lefthander, or the fact that Jonathan Papelbon had hiccups in Detroit and Minnesota.

Nobody seems to be worried that Okajima is not Mr. Automatic, as he was a year ago.

"You have to admit, Okie has come in in some unbelievably difficult situations," said Papelbon. "You can throw out those numbers all you want, but you can't deny that the situations he's been in this year have been really, really tough."

The pitch Payton hit for the grand slam was a changeup, low and inside. Payton is a low-ball hitter, and unless you get it way in, the best thing to do is to keep it away. Catcher Jason Varitek said he hadn't watched a replay of the pitch and couldn't comment on whether it was in a poor location. Varitek reasoned that Payton, a former Georgia Tech teammate, sat on Okajima's changeup, believing he was going to throw it 0 and 1. With Okajima, it's location, location, location.

"I really can't read much into it," said Varitek of Okajima's problems with inherited runners. "He's throwing the ball pretty well. We've asked him to come on in the seventh a few times [nine], and so we're asking a lot of him. I'm sure it hasn't been easy."

It's been more than a season of scouting reports and trends and batters seeing him over and over. Maybe they're starting to figure him out. Maybe they now have an idea of what to expect in different counts.

"I'm telling you, that sophomore season is the toughest season," said Papelbon. "You make more adjustments in that year than in any other year. You have to keep making changes because the hitters in the American League are very smart. They study every pitcher, and if you don't change with them, they're going to catch up to you.

"I had my problems earlier on this trip and I'm making adjustments right now. I have to. Every pitcher has to go through it. Okie is going to be fine. I'm telling you, he's going to be fine."

Okajima and Papelbon formed one of the most potent combinations in baseball last season. Opposing batters knew that if they didn't get to the Red Sox by the seventh inning, the eighth and ninth might be close to impossible. And they often were. You had Okajima's signature changeup, which made his well-located 88- to 90-mile-per-hour fastball that much tougher. But this season, while you see the same location and some good results, there can be a deviation that gives the hitter more of an advantage at the wrong time.

Okajima allowed just one hit yesterday in 1 1/3 innings, but it was a big one. It wasn't his fault he entered the game with two outs and the bases loaded. But that's his job - to strand runners.

Payton, a former Red Sox backup, became a hero in Baltimore with one swing. Just as everyone knows how tough it is to beat Papelbon, the same holds true for Okajima. When you beat him, you feel good. And the Orioles, now 21-19, felt great.

"It goes against the percentages," said Payton of the move to bring in Okajima to face him and remove righthander Craig Hansen. "That's probably the first time I've ever had a lefty brought in to face me, but the lefty [Jon Lester] got me out my first three at-bats so they were just playing the numbers. He's been throwing the ball great; he just left a ball over the middle."

Payton added, "I faced him maybe twice before. I'm the same against everybody - I just look for a pitch to try to hit hard. Don't try to think too much."

Payton obviously made an adjustment against Okajima.

"It was nice," Payton said. "I feel like I've been swinging the bat decent and haven't had a lot to show for it, so it was nice to get a big one today. When you're able to beat good teams, it does a little for your confidence. We feel like we can compete with anybody. We go out there just like everybody else, thinking we're able to win a ballgame, and fortunately, we came away with a couple wins here."

The Orioles had started well (14-9), then dipped, but now they are buoyed by beating Boston twice. They got their fans excited again.

"Last year when we played the Red Sox, and even the Yankees, we were outnumbered at home," said Payton. "We dominated the crowd today, so it was a good thing for the fans."

Not a good thing for the Red Sox.

Their setup man and closer had a rough trip. Maybe things won't seem so bad this weekend when they look out and see Eric Gagné pitching for the opposition.

Nick Cafardo can be reached at cafardo@globe.com.