Piniella hopes to add some punch

MIAMI - For an hour before Saturday night's game, Rays manager Lou Piniella sat behind closed doors in an office with hitting coach Lee Elia. Together, the two commiserated about the lack of punch in the lineup.

When the doors finally opened, Piniella sat behind the desk looking sick and tired. Sick of the Rays' feeble offensive numbers and tired of wondering if things will get better with the current roster.

Then he wondered if it was time for general manager Chuck LaMar to shake up the roster.

"There's not really much we can do," Piniella said. "About the only thing we can do is hope that Chuck can shuffle the cards a little bit. ... We're getting closer and closer to the (July 31) trading deadline and maybe something will pop up."

And Piniella doesn't mean picking up players released by other teams, such as Damion Easley, who played a spell with the Rays, or Gabe Kapler, who was released by Colorado last week.

"You know it's time that we start looking at better than just people who have been released," Piniella said. "(To pick up a released player), you've got to get very lucky, and you don't get lucky very often. There are reasons that people get released."

Piniella pointed out that the Rays are last in the American League in home runs and walks.

"Those are the two big areas," Piniella said. "You can't be last in both. You've got to work very hard for runs."

Those are two reasons the Rays are 17-25 in games decided by one or two runs. Another is failing to get hits at key times. Take Friday, when Ben Grieve could not drive in a runner from third with one out and the score tied at 1 in the eighth inning.

"It's not that hard to get a game-winning base hit sometimes. It really isn't," Piniella said. "The law of averages dictates that. (Friday) night, Grieve comes up with a man on third base. He doesn't make adjustments in his swing. He doesn't cut down on his swing to put the d--- ball in play with a man on third base. You've got to put the ball in play."

THE LUGO AND SHORT OF IT: One Rays player who feels especially bad that shortstop Rey Ordonez likely will miss the rest of the season after knee surgery is the guy who will benefit most: shortstop Julio Lugo.

"I feel bad for Rey," Lugo said. "We talked about it. I've had knee surgery once and I told them if he didn't have to have it then he shouldn't have it. I guess he just feels worse and so he needs now to get it done and get it out of the way."

With Ordonez out, Lugo will be the everyday shortstop for the rest of the season.

"It's tough that he got hurt because he is one of our key players," Lugo said. "But, yeah, this gives me a chance to play short every day. This is a chance for me to keep playing the position I've always played. ... And it's good because I'm starting to get more comfortable around this team."

SEEING RED: The Rays still were miffed Saturday about the ejection of three Rays (Piniella, bench coach John McLaren and rightfielder Aubrey Huff) on Friday. It all started when Huff was ejected for throwing his helmet after being called out on strikes. Huff, though, said he was upset because he did not swing, not because of the call, which he agreed with.

Then again, Piniella said the strain of losing led to the Rays losing control of their emotions.

"You know, the umpire miscalculated," Piniella said. "Nobody was complaining about the strike call. But at the same time, it's frustration starting to set in over losing too many of the same type of ballgames."

MISCELLANY: The Rays came into Saturday with a 5.08 team ERA, its lowest since the third day of the season. ... At their current pace, the Rays will play 94 games decided by two runs or fewer. The last time a team played that many was 1993, when Florida played 95.