ST. PETERSBURG - One of these days, the Devil Rays hope to get Victor Zambrano straightened out.
Until then, all they can do when he pitches is give him the ball and hang on for the ride.
Thursday against Boston, Zambrano pitched 42/3 innings, walking a team-record nine, striking out eight, allowing six runs and throwing 132 pitches (64 balls).
Saturday at Cleveland, Zambrano pitched 11/3 innings, walking seven, striking out one, allowing six runs and throwing 72 pitches (37 balls).
For the two outings combined, that's six innings, 16 walks, 204 pitches.
"Victor really made it hard on himself," manager Lou Piniella said. "His problems aren't physical. It's got to be mental. According to our pitching coach, he had the best warmup in the bullpen that he's had all year, and then to go out there and fight himself like that? It's something that he's going to have to overcome."
In the 551/3 innings Zambrano has pitched this season, he has allowed 104 baserunners: 51 hits, a major-league-leading 44 walks and a major-league-high nine hit batters.
Zambrano said even though he was missing the strike zone often and occasionally by a large margin, he thinks he can fix things with some small adjustments.
"I'll work on it in the bullpen in the next few days and find a way to throw strikes," he said.
Thursday's nine walks surpassed the team record of eight set by Wilson Alvarez on Sept. 2, 1998, at Minnesota.
FOR EVERY ACTION: The player most likely to be affected by the pending arrival of Fred McGriff is Robert Fick, whose slow start is the primary reason Rays DHs are hitting .155, about the same as NL pitchers (.152 entering play Thursday).
Fick, however, said he would welcome McGriff.
"I definitely think having him on the team will be a lot of help," he said. "He's like Tino (Martinez), one of those veteran guys who's not going to quit, who's not going to big-league anybody, who's going to work his (butt) off and who's going to set the best example. Whether it's him DHing or me DHing or whatever, we're going to be a better team."
Fick will lose more than playing time; Thursday, he moved out of the corner locker that was McGriff's from 1998-2001.
DEJA VU: You can't blame the Indians for being eager to see the Rays again given how poorly the Rays played last weekend.
"At one point last year, we looked like that," Cleveland's Jody Gerut said after Sunday's 10-0 win. "When you have an example of what we looked like, in living color, it's sobering. You realize how easy it was to play against us last year. A lot of times you didn't have to play well to beat us, because we would beat ourselves."
SETH TV: Right-hander Seth McClung won't be pitching for the Rays until August at the earliest, but he'll be on national TV Saturday as footage of his Tommy John elbow surgery will be shown during This Week in Baseball (12:30, Ch.13). McClung let the cameras follow him before, during and after the June 26 operation. "I thought it would be a good experience," he said.
McClung hopes to start pitching simulated games in June, then go on a minor-league rehab assignment in July and return to the Rays in August.
MINOR MATTERS: McGriff went 0-for-4 in his debut for Triple-A Durham. ... Right-hander Chad Gaudin, optioned to Durham on Wednesday, started, allowing one run on three hits in two innings. ... Shortstop B.J. Upton hit his fourth homer in eight games for Durham. MISCELLANY: Thursday's game was the 100th between the teams; the Rays are 34-66. ... The Rays successfully stole a team-record 17 straight bases until Carl Crawford was caught in the seventh. ... Piniella said Rob Bell pitched well enough in his debut Wednesday to stay in the rotation. ... The Rays had lost five straight to Boston. ... Catcher Brook Fordyce tied a team record with 17 putouts; the Rays had just two assists.
