FORT MYERS, Fla. -- After struggling mightily with his control in an ugly one-inning start Thursday, Orioles right-hander Jair Jurrjens acknowledged that lingering flaws in his mechanics are rooted in nagging problems with his right knee.

Jurrjens, who threw two innings in his spring debut Sunday, lasted just one frame Thursday in the Orioles' 7-1 Grapefruit League loss to the Minnesota Twins at Hammond Stadium.

He battled with his control throughout, allowing three earned runs on two hits and three walks. Of his 34 pitches, he threw just 13 strikes. Of the eight hitters he faced, he threw just two first-pitch strikes.

"We're still trying to familiarize ourselves with him," manager Buck Showalter said. "He's got a lot of sink there. He'll get better. We'll see if he can get better the next time out. It's been awhile for him, so I'd lean on whatever he has to tell you.

"He's missing down," Showalter added. "Everything's down. I'd feel a lot different if he was missing up, away, in, out. It's just all down."

Jurrjens -- signed to a minor league deal after questions about his knee quashed an earlier proposed major league contract -- said he his mechanics are "out of whack" from his release point to flying open in his delivery.

It's "a mechanics issue," said Jurrjens, who has been pitching with a brace on his right knee. "I think having been in bad habits for a couple of years, I just got to figure out how to get the good habits back, the good timing. Get that feel back.

"By trying to find a way to pitch without feeling pain, you tweak some stuff with your mechanics. You compensate and mess up more stuff."

Jurrjens struggled from the beginning against the Twins. After Darin Mastroianni led off the bottom of the first inning with a double down the left-field line, Jurrjens issues back-to-back one-out walks to Joe Mauer and Josh Willingham to load the bases.

Justin Morneau then hit a 2-0 pitch down the right-field line, scoring three runs. Another run scored on a fielding error by second baseman Yamaico Navarro, who bobbled a relay throw from right fielder Conor Jackson.

Jurrjens then issued a four-pitch walk to catcher Ryan Doumit before getting a popout from Chris Parmelee and a groundout to short off the bat of Trevor Plouffe.

"It's a long spring training (luckily) for me," Jurrjens said. "I'm going to keep working and try to find that release point and (make) the ball do what it's supposed to do.

"I'll definitely try to take (from) what happened in this game. I'm going to try to pay more attention to the bullpen and work more deeply on the release point."

Jurrjens' fastball topped 92 mph multiple times, but it ran steadily at 88-90 mph.

Jurrjens, who has now allowed four runs (three earned) in three spring innings, was the third Orioles starter in as many games to be pulled because of pitch count before completing two innings. Thursday's loss was the Orioles' first in six Grapefruit League games this spring.

Gausman settles in

Orioles pitching prospect Kevin Gausman struggled early in his second spring outing, but he settled in during his second inning of work, striking out major leaguers Parmelee and Plouffe on a pair of 96 mph fastballs.

Gausman, whose fastball ranged steadily from 93-96 mph and topped at 97, allowed three hits in his first inning of work in the fourth, including a pair of back-to-back two-out singles to Mauer and Willingham.

Mauer's single, which fell just in front of a diving Trayvon Robinson in left, plated Mastroianni, who reached on a one-out double off Gausman.

Showalter said he wanted Gausman to face more starters in his second appearance after pitching against reserves in his first spring appearance Sunday against the Toronto Blue Jays.

Gausman, the Orioles' first-round pick in 2012 (No. 4 overall), now has four strikeouts in four spring innings.

Urrutia expected to report

Cuban defector outfielder Henry Urrutia, displaced in Haiti since the Orioles signed him to a $778,500 bonus last summer, is expected to report to the club's minor league facility at Twin Lakes Park sometime this weekend.

"There's a lot of unknown about what kind of shape he's in," Showalter said, "in more ways than one, parasites, other stuff you need to rule out."

Showalter said Urrutia hasn't received his bonus and won't until he passes the club's physical, which could take two or three days.

"He hasn't been paid yet," Showalter said. "He doesn't get paid a penny until everything passes. It's cash and carry here. I'm looking forward to getting him in. I know he is."

The Orioles hoped to send Urrutia to Double-A Bowie last season, but he was held up by problems obtaining a work visa.

Around the horn

With two hits Thursday, third baseman Manny Machado is 4-for-7 this spring. Add three walks, and he has reached base in seven of his 10 plate appearances. ... Catcher Chris Robinson, who is leaving the team Sunday to play for Canada in the World Baseball Classic, had two hits in his first spring start. ... Right-hander Tommy Hunter, who was supposed to pitch two or three innings Thursday, has been pushed back to Saturday's game against the Tampa Bay Rays in Port Charlotte. He will pitch after Wei-Yin Chen and Brian Matusz. Hunter threw a light side session Thursday.

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