Jackson's rotation bid takes a wild detour

In his last outing, RHP Edwin Jackson appeared to take a step forward in the battle for the fifth starter's spot. Sunday, he may have walked back to the pack.

By MARK TOPKIN AND JOANNE KORTH
Published March 19, 2007

LAKELAND - In his last outing, RHP Edwin Jackson appeared to take a step forward in the battle for the fifth starter's spot. Sunday, he may have walked back to the pack.

Jackson walked five in a three-inning relief outing against the Tigers, showing a frustrating lack of command of his fastball, though allowing only one run. LHP J.P. Howell, his primary competition, allowed one run on three hits in his three innings.

Manager Joe Maddon said the field, which includes RHPs Tim Corcoran and Jae Kuk Ryu, will be further trimmed, and possibly finalized, after each pitches again.

Jackson, who lost a competition last spring with Doug Waechter then was bounced to the minors and the bullpen, refused to concede that he lost ground. He'd walked only one in his first seven innings over four games and overall still has a solid 1.80 ERA.

"It's the first negative game I think I've had, and I've definitely come too far to let one game hold me back," Jackson said. "One bad outing - if you want to call it that. Of course I had a lot of walks, but somehow found a way to get out of it without giving up a lot of runs."

Maddon was disappointed with the lack of command but praised Jackson for limiting the damage, especially in the fourth when he walked three in a four-batter span.

"I did like the fact that he did not cave in and gave up only one run in spite of all the adversity he had in that inning. That was the positive for me out of that for him," Maddon said. "In the past maybe we would've seen three, four, five runs in that situation."

DAY OF REST: Maddon and the players agreed that today's first, and only, scheduled off day of the spring is coming at a good time. Not so much because of their 3-16 record, but just to get a break after four solid weeks of daily sessions. "I think if we were 19-0 we'd be very much ready for a day off as well," CF Rocco Baldelli said.

IN CLEARWATER, RAYS WIN: The Rays rallied from a 3-0 deficit, blew a 4-3 lead, then won 5-4, with third-base coach Tom Foley managing. ... C Josh Arhart, reassigned to minor-league camp last week, drove in two with a pinch-hit single in a four-run seventh. ... SS Ben Zobrist went 3-for-4 to raise his average to .345. ... 3B Akinori Iwamura, who began the spring in a 1-for-23 slump, singled to extend his hitting streak to three games.

IN LAKELAND, RAYS LOSE: The Rays lost 6-0 and were held to five hits. ... LHP Jeff Ridgway had another tough outing, allowing two runs on two hits and a walk. He has an 11.12 ERA and has allowed 14 of 31 batters to reach base. ... RHP Brian Stokes, just moved to the bullpen, allowed his first runs. ... RF Delmon Young (bobble) and Baldelli (throw) made errors in the seventh. ... Baldelli's came on a pretty good throw to first, trying to double off a runner. The problem was that with a runner on third and 1B Carlos Pena lining up for a possible play at the plate, there wasn't anyone there to catch it. "I was hoping (first-base coach Andy) Van Slyke would knock it down," Baldelli said.

QUICK WORK: RHP Seth McClung hoped to throw more pitches, and maybe swing the bat, against the Phillies. He settled for retiring two of three batters he faced after replacing Scott Kazmir with one out in the sixth, before he was lifted for pinch-hitter Arhart.

After back-to-back rough outings, McClung said he would have liked to have thrown more but was pleased with what he did. "There's a part of you that probably knows you need to go out and throw another inning," he said. "But the way it happened, we needed to put a hitter in. I'll get another inning soon."

MISCELLANY: The Countdown to Opening Day radio show broadcasts 7-9 tonight on 1250-AM from Ferg's sports bar near the Trop, with top prospects Reid Brignac and Evan Longoria joining hosts Andy Freed and Dave Wills. ... RHP Al Reyes is scheduled to work one inning in a Triple-A exhibition today at the Naimoli Complex.

Marc Topkin can be reached at topkin@sptimes.com or (727) 893-8801. Joanne Korth can be reached at korth@sptimes.com or (727) 893-8810.

[Last modified March 18, 2007, 22:31:25]