Signed March 1 after his release from the Philadelphia Phillies, Eaton allowed two runs in three innings of the Orioles' 6-5 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday.

Eaton retired seven in a row before heading to the bullpen to do more throwing.

Eager to become part of the Orioles' starting rotation, Eaton made a poor first impression. He fell behind 1-0 after throwing only five pitches: Skip Schumaker and Joe Thurston singled, and Albert Pujols ripped a double into the left field corner.

David Freese flied to right field, scoring Thurston, but Nolan Reimold threw out Pujols at third base. Jon Jay walked and stole second before Eaton retired Khalil Greene on a sharp one-hopper to the mound.

Eaton was much more efficient in the second inning, retiring the side in order on a strikeout and two bouncers to short. He induced a groundball and two popups in the third, and left the game having thrown 24 strikes among his 30 pitches.

"The first inning, the ball was up and the sinker was sliding into their barrels, but that's what happens," he said. "I was glad to get three innings in as opposed to doing two innings, which is what you would normally do. I definitely felt strong enough that I could have gone back out there for more innings."

Instead, Eaton threw 15 more pitches in the bullpen until he was satisfied.

"After that first inning, I slowed my lower half down and made some good adjustments in the second and third innings," said Eaton, who allowed four hits, walked none and struck out one. "I threw a bunch of strikes. I only had one count that went to two balls, and that was the last hitter (Pujols), and I was able to get him out."

Jamie Walker replaced Eaton with the Orioles trailing 2-1 and gave up a two-run homer to Greene.

Gregg Zaun had an RBI single off Cardinals starter Kyle McClellan in the second inning. McClellan allowed the run and four hits in three innings, with a walk and a strikeout.

Jay went 3-for-5 with a stolen base and scored two runs. Cardinals reliever Chris Perez gave up two runs in the ninth, but retired Luke Scott on a bouncer to second with the tying run on base.

"It was a good game overall," Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said. "Look at our hits (15), look at some of our plays. It's something to build on."