The nightmare season keeps getting scarier

PITTSBURGH - It's obvious how bad things are right now for the Devil Rays.

Saturday's 18-2 bashing by the Pirates was the latest in their litany of embarrassing defeats, a sorry stretch in which they've lost seven straight, 10 of 11 on the roadtrip that mercifully ends today, and 12 of their past 13.

But with key players struggling and hurt, no indication the front office will make any upgrades and a challenging portion of their schedule looming, they have to face the very real - and somewhat discouraging - possibility that things actually could get worse.

"I've never seen anything stink like this," said rightfielder Aubrey Huff, who has been a Ray longer than any of the others. "This is bad. You can keep saying, "Keep your head up, keep your head up, good things will happen.' But good things never seem to happen around here."

It's hard for much good to happen as badly as they've played.

They're on the verge, at 20-42, of dropping past Kansas City for the worst record in the majors.

They're on pace for 110 losses, which would be the most in the history of a franchise that is steeped in losing tradition.

They've matched the worst road start in modern history at 4-28, something done only by the 1982 Twins, 1916 Athletics and 1904 Senators.

Specifics?

They have the highest team ERA in the majors (5.94), have allowed the most runs (393, an average of 6.3 a game) and issued the most walks in the AL (260). Plus, they've made the most errors in the majors (56, after making three Saturday), have the worst fielding percentage (.974) and have allowed the most unearned runs (40, after giving up six more).

Could it get worse?

"It's already spiralled out of control," Huff said. "Are you kidding me? We've won four games on the road. We get beat in every which way possible. How could it get any worse? Oh man, I'll tell ya, if this happens like this the rest of the year, I don't know how much more guys can take. It's mentally frustrating. Tough to come to the ballpark when you're playing like this. Zero fun right now."

Saturday was their worst loss of the season. Scott Kazmir, who had looked so good over his previous four outings, wasn't sharp from the start, putting the first four on. Overall, the pitchers, fresh off a Friday staff meeting, allowed a season-high-matching 20 hits. The fielders made three errors and botched a half-dozen other plays. The batters managed only seven hits and struck out 10 times.

"We're big leaguers, and we've got to act like it," said Eduardo Perez, a veteran of 12 major-league seasons. "We've just got to go out there and battle and keep playing. You start putting your head down, you're going to get your a-- kicked, and that's the bottom line."

Manager Lou Piniella has kept relatively calm, but that too may end in a matter of time. His frustration is mounting, particularly with the shoddy defense and poor pitching.

Since Piniella said Thursday afternoon they'd hit rock bottom, the Rays have lost three games by a combined score of 39-9.

Is there anything that can be done?

"Where do we make changes?" Piniella said. "I don't know. Where do we make them? The only people that can get this thing stopped are the players."

Source: http://www.sptimes.com/