Victor Zambrano can frustrate with his wildness, but wins in five decisions in a row have given him a team-high eight.
By RODNEY PAGE
Published June 29, 2004
ST. PETERSBURG - For most of this season, Devil Rays manager Lou Piniella has tried to figure out starting pitcher Victor Zambrano. Which Zambrano will show up, the one who can't find the strike zone with a compass or the one with the stuff that makes hitters look foolish?
Piniella is still not sure from one outing to the next, but he has made one conclusion.
"He wins," Piniella said. "He does throw a lot of pitches, but he wins."
Zambrano added to his win total Monday night in the Rays' 10-2 victory over Toronto. He is 8-4, and the win is his fifth in as many decisions. That ties a team record held by Ryan Rupe, Jim Mecir, Wilson Alvarez and Zambrano, who accomplished the feat when he was a reliever in 2001.
Zambrano pitched six innings, allowing seven hits, two earned runs, three strikeouts and four walks. His 73 walks leads the AL. But he is also one strikeout from tying Esteban Yan's team record of 351 all-time.
After an eight-inning outing against the Blue Jays on Wednesday, when he threw 128 pitches, Zambrano was kept on a short leash by Piniella and pitching coach Chuck Hernandez. He had 107 pitches when he gave way to Jesus Colome in the seventh and the Rays leading 8-2.
His only real trouble was in the sixth, when he got out of a bases-loaded jam with one run.
"I wasn't thinking about how many pitches I've thrown, I was just trying to do whatever I could to get those hitters out," said Zambrano, who is 7-1 at Tropicana Field this season. "I was trying to be consistent in the (strike) zone. Just concentrate on getting outs and let our hitters get the runs."
Catcher Toby Hall would like to see Zambrano even more consistent with his pitches.
"He's a strikeout pitcher, but he wants to do that too much," Hall said. "He has so much nasty stuff that it gets him in trouble with his pitch count. If he would attack the strike zone more he would get complete games. He knows that. He's one of the nastiest pitchers in the league."
Hernandez has worked intensely with Zambrano, especially during a stretch in April and May when he failed to get a win in seven straight starts. Hernandez feels Zambrano has made big strides and still has room for improvement.
"He's a guy that's going to walk three or four a game," Hernandez said. "He's got a lot of movement and he's going to just miss. He doesn't give in very often. He's not going to be a 100-pitch guy over nine innings. It's not going to happen.
"We've talked often about gutting out the tough games. Get out of those bases-loaded jams and not get flustered. He's making progress in that area. But I think one of the biggest things is when Victor goes out there, the team feels like they can win the ballgame."
