PHOENIX -- Jered Weaver said he often endures a "dead arm" period late in spring training, but he didn't realize it was hitting him now until the Oakland Athletics let him know.

"You never know if you are going to go through it," Weaver said. "Everything feels healthy. But you hear stories about guys having no control or no feel, and that's definitely what it was today."

Weaver gave up eight runs in two innings, including three homers in a start that he could only laugh off and be grateful that it didn't count.

"It's nice to get one of those out of the way," Weaver said.

Weaver got knocked out so quickly that he went down to the bullpen to throw another 20 pitches so he could continue ramping up his pitch-count to prepare for opening day. Weaver has two more starts before he takes the ball April 1 at Cincinnati.

While Weaver seemed to shrug off the game, Manager Mike Scioscia was slightly more disturbed.

"It certainly wasn't the outing we need at this time in the spring to keep these guys on track and we'll evaluate where he is this week," Scioscia said.

Not only was Weaver's arm dead on Saturday, but he also made a mental error.

A new rule this year prohibits pitchers from faking a throw to third. With runners at the corners, Weaver faked to third. He was called for a balk, and the runner scored.

"It's going to be an adjustment," Weaver said. "It's something we've been working on, but it caught me off guard. My mind was a different place."

WATCHING FROM AFAR

Right-hander Fernando Cabrera has helped his chances of making the Angels bullpen without even being in camp.

The 31-year-old journeyman right-hander has been pitching for Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic. He has appeared in three games, notching two saves. He has retired four of the five batters he has faced, striking out two.

It's not much of a sample size, to be sure, but from what the Angels have seen from afar, he's looked better than he did when he allowed four runs on five hits in 31/3 innings in Angels Cactus League games.

"The first couple times he pitched in games and threw bullpens for us, you could see he just wasn't where he needed to be," Scioscia said. "But over the course of some bullpens, over the course of game action, I know his velocity has picked up a little bit."

Cabrera won't be back with the Angels until Tuesday, at the earliest, because Puerto Rico qualified for the WBC semifinals on Monday in San Francisco. The final is Tuesday.

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