KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Doug Waechter might be headed for the bullpen. Manager Lou Piniella said Sunday that is still up for discussion, but he believes it could be a better place for the right-hander to work out his kinks.
The St. Petersburg native struggled in two starts since a strained tendon in the middle finger of his pitching hand put him on the disabled list for three months.
Waechter has pitched seven innings and allowed nine runs on 12 hits with six walks and three strikeouts. Worse: Waechter's mechanics were so bad Saturday, Piniella said he was afraid Waechter might hurt himself.
"He looked like a young colt out there. He was all over the place and nothing seemed coordinated," Piniella said. "Nothing was smooth. It was an effort from pitch one. What concerned me is he was flying open so much, you can hurt your shoulder. His arm is really dragging. He has no arm speed.
"I don't want to send a guy out like that. I really wouldn't. We can put him in the bullpen if we have to and let the pitching coach work with him on mechanics until we can smooth him out a little bit."
Waechter and pitching coach Chuck Hernandez on Sunday studied a replay of Saturday's game, in which Waechter pitched three innings and allowed four runs on six hits with three walks and a strikeout.
"It's just not jumping," Hernandez said of Waechter's fastball. "I don't know. It's difficult."
"Basically, it's mechanical," Waechter said. "I was flying open on my front side. I know what I need to get back to. I can picture where my mechanics need to be."
Waechter said he feels like it is spring training again.
"But I know that's not an excuse," he said. "I know I can get people out, and that's what I'm trying to do. The thing about pitching is you can't go out there every day. When I don't have a good game it just eats at you until I can get out there again."
STREAKING: Piniella said he doesn't know if Saturday's victory, which snapped Tampa Bay's losing streak at 12, will take some pressure off his players.
"But one thing is certain," he said. "We have to get better starting pitching. We don't do that, we'll have some problems."
The Rays had an ERA of 7.19 during the streak and allowed 85 earned runs in 1061/3 innings. The starters were at 9.74 and allowed 57 earned runs and 88 hits in 522/3 innings.
Only three times did a starter pitch more than five innings. Add a team batting average of .239 during the streak and, well, you're not giving yourself much of a chance.
Piniella said he was thinking about returning Sunday's starter, Jorge Sosa, to the bullpen to take the place of Jesus Colome, who is out for the season with inflammation in his pitching shoulder.
But considering Waechter might be headed there, Piniella said, "We might not have that luxury."
SO WHAT ABOUT IT?: Catcher Toby Hall said the players were pressing during the losing streak.
"You try to do too much," he said. "Losing wears on you."
Still, Hall said, you have to be realistic.
"We've got a young team and we go out there every day and a lot of times we're overmatched," he said. "We're trying to win every game. We're just trying to do the best we can with the matchups we have."
ODDS AND ENDS: Saturday's victory also snapped the Rays' road losing streak at eight. The team is 5-23 on the road since July 8. Three of the victories came Aug. 23-25 against the Mariners. ... The Royals have gone a franchise-best 55 series without being swept. ... The Durham Bulls won't win a third straight International League championship after falling 7-0 to the Buffalo Bisons in a deciding Game 5 of the semifinals. Buffalo faces either Columbus or Richmond, whose series is tied at 2, for the league title.
