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The Devil Rays could use another starting pitcher right now. Someone like, say, uh, Joe Kennedy.
That's right, the Rays castoff who had a horrible 2003 season that prompted his trade to the Rockies suddenly has found his arm again in Colorado, one of the unfriendliest places for pitchers.
Then again, Kennedy isn't claiming he has turned the corner just yet.
"Talk to me in June and see where we are," Kennedy told the Rocky Mountain News.
Still, Kennedy is off to a good start. He snapped a personal nine-game losing streak when he held the Diamondbacks to two runs in six innings. He followed that by shutting out the Dodgers for six innings and allowing one run over seven innings for another victory.
"He's pitching with a lot of confidence in our park," Rockies manager Clint Hurdle said. "It's nice to watch the first steps being taken, but he has a long ways to go. He has taken very good steps. I hope they are confidence builders, that's he's realizing he doesn't have to overpower people to get outs."
Today, Kennedy goes for his third victory, which would match his total for last season. Then again, Kennedy has been through this before. He started last season 3-3, but went 0-9 after that.
"Last year I thought about more things than this year," Kennedy said. "This year I'm going out pitch by pitch, hitter by hitter, inning by inning and not getting too far ahead of myself."
UNDER THE KNIFE: Tampa native and Diamondbacks leftfielder Luis Gonzalez is considering surgery in the offseason to repear the torn ligament in his right throwing elbow.
"After the season I'm going to sit down with our trainers," Gonzalez told the East Valley Tribune. "And I'm going to make the decision on if I'm going to have the surgery done and go from there."
Gonzalez was hesitant to consider surgery at first, thinking he might miss an entire season. But former teammate Tony Womack told Gonzalez he had the same surgery in October and was ready for the start of the season.
BUGS BUNNY IMITATION: Detroit's Brandon Inge is doing everything but selling popcorn for the Tigers. According to STATS Inc., Inge is the first player in more than 20 years to start at catcher, third base, leftfield and centerfield in the same season. The last player to do that was Ron Pruitt in 1980 with the Indians and White Sox.
"I'm really enjoying it," Inge said. "As long as I get to play, I'm very much enjoying it."
ON THE MEND: Marlins pitcher A.J. Burnett is on his way back from reconstructive elbow surgery. He threw for 12 minutes on Wednesday and hopes to return June 15, about 13 months after surgery. He expects to throw three more bullpen sessions before moving on to live batting practice.
"After that, if I'm ready to go, let's go," Burnett said. "I'm tired of watching, brother. I'm ready to get back."
HAVE ANOTHER DONUT: When Reds closer Danny Graves gave up back-to-back homers in the ninth last week to blow a save opportunity against the Cubs, Chicago announcer Ron Santo said it looked as if Graves had eaten a few Krispy Kreme doughnuts over the winter. Word got back to Graves, who confronted Santo the next day. Santo apologized, but Graves wasn't done.
Two days later, he signed a box of Krispy Kreme donuts for Santo: "To Ron: Breakfast is on me. Save one for me."
"The thing is," Graves said, "I lost 10 pounds over the winter and I was feeling pretty good about myself."
THE END OF THE ROAD: Arizona second baseman Robbie Alomar is talking as if his career might be over after fracturing his right hand. He should miss only eight weeks, but Alomar isn't taking anything for granted.
"It's going to be tough to deal with, and at my age it's tough to deal more," Alomar said. "I'm already 36, and in the game of baseball you never know when it's going to be over. ... I'm going to try and deal with it the best I can, and I'm going to try to be there for my teammates."
FIRST PITCH: Martin Sheen became the third fictional President of the United States to throw out a ceremonial first pitch at Baltimore's Camden Yards. The NBC series The West Wing filmed it Friday for the season finale. The other fictional presidents were Kevin Kline (Dave) and Chris Rock (Head of State).
NICE GUY: Phillies manager Larry Bowa surely has lost his mind. Already wound tighter than a spring, Bowa took out his rage on the Philadelphia writers last week, saying they are trying to get him fired.
"Two or three of you are doing everything in your power to stick a (expletive) knife in my back," Bowa said.
Later, he added that he thought reporters were trying to dig up dirt in his personal life. "Go dig up some more (expletive)," Bowa shouted. "Find out if I went out the other night. See if I got in by 11 o'clock. Write that in the (expletive) paper. Be a (expletive) man one time. Write your little digs."
ON THE OTHER HAND: While the Phillies lose and Bowa looks over his shoulder, Royals manager Tony Pena took another approach.
After the Royals lost a fifth consecutive game recently, Pena walked out of his office and started to rub soap on himself in the shower. All while fully clothed.
"I had to do something," Pena said. "Make them laugh. Well, they laughed. We know we're better than this. We know that."
Two days later, the Royals snapped their losing streak.
SHORT HOPS: Cubs pitcher Mark Prior, out with an Achilles' injury, threw 40 pitches on the side last week and ran sprints in the outfield. The Cubs hope he can throw in a minor-league game by mid May. ... The Brewers were the only team in the majors without a player on the disabled list on Thursday, but their bullpen catcher, Marcus Hanel, is out of commission after injurying his back while lifting a laundry basket at home. ... Royals shortstop Angel Berroa, the reigning AL rookie of the year, had a spinal tap last week in hopes of finding out what is causing migraines. The test, though, revealed nothing. ... Pitcher Randy Wolf on the Phillies' roller-coaster start: "I think we're sponsored by Tums."
- Information from other news organizations was used in this report.