Kennedy accepts his suspension

ST. PETERSBURG -- Joe Kennedy won't appeal after all.

The Rays left-hander, who was suspended seven games for throwing at Toronto's Ken Huckaby (his pitch sailed over Huckaby) June 6 in retaliation for Luke Prokopec hitting Aubrey Huff three innings earlier, started serving his suspension Friday night.

The hearing had been set for Monday.

"It's just something I thought of," Kennedy said. "It's kind of amazing; I don't think much lately."

Actually, Kennedy thought it through clearly. He pitched Thursday's 4-0 loss to Seattle, and if his appeal were denied Monday, the seven games would start then, meaning he would miss two starts. Instead, his suspension began Friday, meaning he'll miss just one start. He tentatively is scheduled to start Friday at -- coincidentally -- Toronto. (Jorge Sosa likely will start in Kennedy's place Tuesday.)

"It's a gamble. (But) it's very rare that they actually drop (the suspension) entirely," Kennedy said. "They might shave a couple of days off. ... (If) they give me five days (from Monday), I still miss an extra day (than if he started the seven games immediately)."

Kennedy, who said the pitch that sailed over Huckaby was an accident, is allowed to work out with the team before games during the suspension. When the game starts he can't be in uniform, or in the dugout or clubhouse.

Kennedy said he might watch from the stands.

STURTZE HURTS: Tanyon Sturtze, the Rays' opening-day starter, had respectable stats in the first half: 18 starts, 121.1 innings, 4.52 ERA.

His reward? An ugly 1-9 record.

How cursed is Sturtze? Three times this season he has pitched nine innings without registering a complete game or win.

"There's not much you can do. You don't really have control over whether other things happen," said Sturtze, who starts at 6:15 tonight against the Mariners. "I can just control my job. If I don't do it then the blame's on me."

Sturtze got his first win June26 in his 16th start, the second-longest winless drought in major-league history for an opening-day starter.

"I think the frustration passed after getting the win," Sturtze said. "I've pitched pretty good. Hopefully the results will come."

INVERTED RAYS: Before Friday's loss, Rays manager Hal McRae noted a statistical quirk: Tampa Bay's left-handed batters hit better against left-handed pitching than the Rays' right-handed batters.

The facts support him. The six Rays right-handed batters with 25 or more at-bats against left-handed pitching were a combined 38-for-237 (.160). Greg Vaughn (4-for-50, .080) has been the worst offender, and Brent Abernathy (13-for-60, .217) is the only one batting better than .200.

"It mystifies me," McRae said.

Things got worse Friday. The Rays managed two hits off Seattle left-handed starter Jamie Moyer, neither by a right-handed batter (though switch-hitter Randy Winn had one).

HE DOES IT ALL: Winn's first-inning steal of second was his 70th as Ray, surpassing Miguel Cairo for the most in Tampa Bay history.

SEAY UPDATE: One-time top prospect Bobby Seay was activated from the disabled list by Double-A Orlando. The left-hander was out with a muscle strain in his pitching elbow.

OUT AGAIN: Outfielder Josh Hamilton, the top pick in the 1999 draft, was placed on the disabled list by Class A Bakersfield after a subluxation (a dislocation that pops back into place on its own) of the left shoulder Wednesday. Also, RHP Kevin McGlinchy, a Rule 5 selection from Atlanta in December, had arthroscopic surgery Friday to repair a torn labrum in his right shoulder.