Williams to miss next start

PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Pirates have adjusted their starting rotation in preparation for their highly anticipated upcoming road trip to Yankee Stadium and Fenway Park.
Dave Williams, who would have been slotted to start the series opener against the Yankees, will be pushed back until next Sunday in the series finale against the Red Sox. With a scheduled off-day Monday, the Pirates will be able to keep Kip Wells on normal rest and still have him pitch the opener on Tuesday in New York. Wells will be followed by Mark Redman on Wednesday and Oliver Perez on Thursday.

"With the day off, we had the chance to line up the rotation the way we wanted it. It just makes sense to put your best pitchers up against any team when you are going on the road -- guys that you think match up the best," said Pirates manager Lloyd McClendon.

McClendon said that Williams' last ounting, during which the southpaw surrendered four home runs in 4 1/3 innings on Tuesday night against the Orioles, had nothing to do with the decision to skip him.

"He could have gone out and thrown six shutout innings and we were going to still line up what we considered our best pitchers for the Yankees series," said McClendon.

Williams, the team's leader with five wins, took the news in stride.

"I was kidding with Kip that he was going to try to pass me now with the wins," said Williams. "But I knew going out of Spring Training that my role was to pitch when they asked me to pitch.

"I'm fine with it. I'm not worried about anything. I know what I am capable of doing. I know that my manager is behind me and he's just trying to set it up to give us collectively as a team a chance to win ballgames. It would be different if I wasn't pitching at all on the whole road trip.

Williams, who will start next Saturday on 10 days' rest, has been in this situation before. His second start of the season came eight days after his debut.

"I'm going to take the same approach I did before when I had seven days between starts," said Williams. "The biggest thing is to not feel too strong to where you feel like you're throwing hard and you're really not. I think you just need to stay within yourself. I'll just do some extra running and try to wear my body down like it would be leading up to a start."

McClendon said that Williams would probably be available to pitch out of the bullpen on Tuesday and Wednesday. Williams has approached the coaching staff about the possibility of throwing a simulated game between starts.

Doumit hits cleanup: Less than a week into his big league career, Ryan Doumit found himself batting cleanup for the Pirates on Saturday night against Devil Rays lefty Scott Kazmir.

"It's exciting. I'm looking at it as an opportunity to come in and make my mark," said Doumit, who entered the game 1-for-6 with a double. "That's where all of the RBIs are, and I think that I'm capable of doing that."

Despite Doumit's limited experience, McClendon believed the switch-hitting catcher/outfielder was the best option to bat behind Jason Bay.

"Ideally, I really don't want him in that [cleanup] position. But somebody's got to hit fourth against a left-hander," said McClendon. "I'm trying to maximize the protection for Bay with a right-hander hitting behind him."

While Doumit was accustomed to hitting fourth the past two seasons at Triple-A Indianapolis and Double-A Altoona, getting used to playing right field in the big leagues will perhaps be a bit more challenging. The 21-foot right field wall at PNC Park is nothing like he ever saw in the Minor Leagues. Doumit took extra outfield practice with coach Rusty Kuntz on Saturday afternoon to prepare him for the odd caroms.

"I'm just getting used to getting balls off the wall," said Doumit. "It's a little different. In the Minor Leagues, you just have the strictly wooden walls, where the ball kits and ricochets 100 feet back."

Sanchez returns: Freddy Sanchez returned to the starting lineup at third base on Saturday against the Devil Rays after missing the previous four games with a sore groin. Sanchez batted leadoff in place of Matt Lawton, who was given the day off against the southpaw Kazmir.

"Freddy is healthy now -- we've got a left-handed pitcher going, so he's back in there," said McClendon. "He's not a typical leadoff hitter. But against left-handed pitchers, we put what we can out there."

Sanchez has batted leadoff five times this season. Although Sanchez doesn't have the speed of a prototypical leadoff hitter, McClendon has been impressed by the third baseman's ability to work the count and get on base consistently.

"He's the type of guy I would consider an on-base guy," said McClendon. "He takes the count deep. He's not afraid to hit with two strikes and he generally makes pretty good contact."

Wilson injury update: Craig Wilson, who has been on the disabled list for more than a month since undergoing surgery to repair torn tissue in the his left middle finger, will visit hand specialist Mark Baratz on Wednesday to determine the next step in his rehabilitation.

"Right now, we're working on range of motion because the hand has been immobile," said Wilson. "It's coming along pretty good."

Wilson hopes to be able to swing a bat in the next week to 10 days. After that, he'll likely go out on a Minor League rehab assignment. He expects to be back with the Pirates before the All-Star break.

On Deck: The Pirates will conclude their 13-game homestand on Sunday afternoon against the Devil Rays. Pirates right-hander Josh Fogg (4-3, 4.20 ERA) will be opposed by Tampa Bay southpaw Mark Hendrickson (2-3, 6.05).

Source: http://pittsburgh.pirates.mlb.com/