CHICAGO -- The first thing that reliever Chad Orvella did when he walked into the Devil Rays clubhouse on Wednesday afternoon was to check the lineup card posted on the door to make sure his name wasn't written on the bottom of it.

Orvella, 24, has never started a game in his short career, but after hearing that manager Lou Piniella had told the media on Tuesday night that he was changing up his strategy to win games by starting relievers and bringing his starters in for the third inning and on, Orvella decided it would be best to check the card.

"We didn't know if he was serious or not," Orvella said. "It's kind of funny, but he's the boss and you don't know what he's going to do."

The plan was short-lived as the name of intended starter, Casey Fossum, graced the lineup card, but Piniella sure did cause a bit of a stir with his unique idea.

ESPN's Dan Patrick dedicated a half-hour of his radio show to discussing the proposed plan, and phone calls kept coming in to Rick Vaughn, vice president of public relations for the Devil Rays, to see if Piniella would really go through with his announced plan.

Seeing the horde of reporters gathered in the dugout to ask him questions, Piniella just sat and shook his head for a moment.

"I didn't think this would draw that much attention," Piniella said.

The change of heart for Piniella came later Tuesday night when he sat down to weigh the pros and cons of starting a reliever. When he saw some items on the con side that disturbed him, Piniella decided to stick with his pitching rotation the way he has had it all along.

"I've got some young kids in the rotation that I thought about," Piniella said of changing his mind. "We're trying to develop a ball club as well as win baseball games here, so we just decided to stay the conventional way and that's it.

"It sounds intriguing. It may work, or it may not work, but we'll let somebody else try it first."

Though Piniella may not want to try the idea with his club, he still believes that the idea has some merit -- in the Minor Leagues.

"These kids never get a chance to pitch meaningful innings, to pitch the seventh, eighth and ninth innings," Piniella said. "I think pitch counts rob Minor League pitchers of that opportunity, and this would allow them to do that."

The news that his club won't be using relievers to begin games any time soon came as a big sigh of relief to Orvella, who said that he would rather just remain in his usual role of coming in during the later innings, even if it did mean giving up the opportunity to start his first Major League game.

"I like the role I'm in," Orvella said. "You get comfortable in your role, and to be taken out of that would mean having to test new waters, so I'm happy to stay right where I am."

Help on the way? The rough state of the Devil Rays bullpen may be getting some much needed help in the very near future.

Piniella said that the team is looking around for veteran relievers to add to the bullpen. It would be the latest solution to solving the team's pitching problems in the later innings.

The Devil Rays bullpen has blown a Major League high 16 saves so far this season and Tampa Bay has been outscored 90-27 in the eighth inning alone.

The team's latest attempt to solve the problem, using Lance Carter to pitch the eighth, failed in Tuesday night's game when Carter gave up three straight hits to start off the inning, including a home run to Frank Thomas that cost the Devil Rays the ballgame against the White Sox.

Possible pick-ups for Tampa Bay could include two pitchers recently designated for assignment, Joe Borowski, by the Chicago Cubs, and Rick Bauer, by the Baltimore Orioles.

Borowski spent much of the early part of the season on the DL with a broken bone in his right throwing arm. After coming off the disabled list on May 21, Borowski saw action in 11 games, pitching 11 innings while amassing a 6.55 ERA. Bauer has pitched 8 1/3 innings in only five games this season for the Orioles with a 9.72 ERA.

This and that: Fernando Cortez made his Major League debut in Tuesday night's game, grounding out in the ninth inning. ... The Devil Rays have now gone 8-34 on the road this season and though the club is struggling to find wins with a seven-game losing streak, Piniella believes that things will turn around. "Look at the law of averages, that dictates that," Piniella said.

Last but certainly not least: The Tampa Bay Devil Rays will only have one representative for the 2005 All Star squad as voting for the Ameriquest Final Vote candidate came to a close on Wednesday and Carl Crawford was not selected.

Crawford finished fifth in the overall votes with the final spot on the roster going to White Sox outfielder Scott Podsednik. The Yankee's Derek Jeter finished in second with teammate Hideki Matsui and Minnesota Twins outfielder Torii Hunter finishing third and fourth respectively.

Though Crawford did not win, his numbers since the start of the season certainly made him a strong candidate for the All-Star bid. The 23-year-old is hitting .285 with nine home runs and 46 RBIs through 84 games.

"I knew it was a long shot," Crawford said of his chances. "It's just always a compliment to have your name in a category like that."

Crawford got to see the reception for Podsednik as the White Sox announced the winner during Wednesday night's game.

Podsednik's win came as a bit of a surprise to Crawford even though the left fielder was able to witness all the campaigning that the Sox leadoff man did at U.S. Cellular Field.

"I really didn't think he had much of a chance either," Crawford said with a laugh. "Especially with two Yankees on the ballot."

On deck: After a long six-game road trip, the Devil Rays return to Tropicana Field on Thursday to begin a four-game series against the Detroit Tigers. Seth McClung (0-4) will take to the mound for Tampa Bay, still looking for his first win of the season.