Wells

PITTSBURGH— Does Kip Wells finally have his game back together?

The Pittsburgh Pirates — and a few other major league clubs — might be eager to find out as the 29-year-old right-hander makes his sixth start of the season this weekend in Florida.

The first four starts were nothing to write home about:An 0-4 record, 12.42 earned run average, seven strikeouts and 10 walks in 16X\c innings pitched. Those numbers come on the heels of an 8-18 2005 campaign in which Wells led the National League in losses.

"It's all about getting ahead of hitters for him,"Pirates manager Jim Tracy. "One strike. Two strikes. Now the hitter has to change his approach at the plate.

"We hadn't been seeing that from Kip."

All of a sudden, they are.

After allowing five runs to the New York Mets in the first inning July 5 at Shea Stadium, Wells threw five consecutive hitless innings.

In his last start against Colorado, he allowed one run in seven innings, struck out four and walked two — and one of those walks was intentional.

Of the 100 pitches Wells threw that night, 67 were strikes.

"When I first came back this year, I was aggressive on the mound, but didn't have command of my pitches,"wells said. "By the time I got command, I lost some of that aggressiveness.

"Finally, I was able to put it together. This is just one game, but maybe it's something I can build on."

He hopes so. Wells may be pitching for his career over his next few starts. He becomes a free agent after this season and is coming off arm surgery March 6.

Wells needed surgery to repair a blocked artery in his right arm. The problem was corrected by replacing the artery with a vein from his leg.

"This was an obstacle,"Wells said of his mound effort against Colorado. "For the first time, I feel like I pitched effectively. I know I'll sleep better after this."

On July 5, 2005, Wells struck out 12 and pitched a complete-game shutout against Philadelphia. He was expected to be the veteran safety net in a sea of young hurlers in the rotation this season.

Now, he doesn't appear to fit in the club's plans beyond this year. Three starters from the 2005 rotation — Josh Fogg, Dave Williams and Oliver Perez — already have been shown the door. Wells could be the fourth.

The trading deadline is July 31 and plenty of teams are searching for pitching.

"All I can do is make pitches, do what I'm capable of doing, and see what happens,"Wells said.

Tracy said Wells' solution is as simple as throwing the ball over the plate.

"When he throws his two-seam and four-seam fastballs for strikes, it makes his breaking balls that much better," Tracy said. "When he's ahead in the count, he can try to nibble the corners with the breaking stuff and he'll get batters out.

"When a pitcher falls behind hitters at this level, the hitters' strike zone shrinks — and that pitcher is in trouble."

Kip Wells knows all about it.