"I've taken a lot of right turns at first base lately," Moss said. "It was much better to take a left turn than a right turn."

Since then, however, it's been back to taking right turns. Moss' slump has deepened, but the Pirates don't have much choice but to keep running him out there.

Riding a string of 14 hitless at-bats, Moss on Sunday was benched. Eric Hinske made his ninth start in right field.

"It's no secret (Moss) has been struggling," manager John Russell said. "He got a day to regroup a little bit. He's still going to play a lot, but we need to get Hinske some at-bats."

With the Pirates trailing by two runs in the eighth inning, Moss pinch-hit with two runners on base. He flied out to left field, dropping his average to .174

Moss is out of minor-league options, and the Pirates surely would lose him to a waiver claim if they tried to send him to Triple-A Indianapolis.

Russell will continue to write Moss' name in the lineup to give him a chance to play his way out of the slump. Management also wants to give Moss a legitimate, lengthy chance to show what he can do, the better to evaluate just what the Pirates got in the Jason Bay trade.

So far, the results are not encouraging. In 117 games, Moss is batting .197 with six homers and 26 RBI.

Moss got off to a decent start this season, with five hits in his first 18 at-bats (.278). But he has not had a multi-hit game since April 8, and it took him 16 games to get his first RBI.

"I felt great at the plate the past two or three weeks," Moss said. "But everything I swung at, I had no bat speed. Nothing."

One problem, Moss said, was the path his bat was taking through the hitting zone.

"We're trying to get him to get the barrel of the bat working more directly to the ball and staying through the ball longer," hitting coach Don Long said. "He's been dropping the barrel early and then kind of working up through the ball."

When he bats, Moss tends to use his bottom hand more than the top hand. As a result, his swung isn't as level as it should be.

"That's it, in a nutshell," Long said.

Or is it?

Small adjustments ? such as relaxing his grip on the handle of the bat, which allows his top hand to be more involved ? often can make a difference. But even after tweaking his grip, Moss showed he still has work to do.

In the first two games last weekend against the New York Mets, he went a combined 0 for 8, including four strikeouts.

"I feel so good at the plate, which makes it so frustrating," Moss said. "I saw one off-speed pitch today. Every other pitch was a fastball, and I am a dead fastball hitter. But I fouled every one back until I put one in play weakly or popped up."

Moss continues to work with Long in the batting cage before games. But he sounds less certain than he did a week ago about how to get back on track.

"I don't know what adjustment to make," Moss said. "When you feel good, what adjustment do you make? I know that I'm late, but I don't know how to get early. I look at my timing, and everything's exactly the same as it always has been."

Moss sighed.

"I've got to get it going."

Moss freely admits he is pressing ? "When you're batting .180, who wouldn't be?" he asked ? and is having trouble relaxing at the plate.

"That causes you to do things you don't want to do," Long said. "The tighter you are and the more you're grinding mentally, you lose a lot of your athleticism. You have to be intense without being tense. It's a fine line and a daily challenge."