ST. PETERSBURG -- Edwin Jackson will be making his 14th start of the season for the Rays on Sunday after winning Monday against the Angels.

The 24-year-old right-hander seemed to get stronger during that outing and still had a 95-mph fastball in the seventh inning -- his last inning against the Angels. A perception is out there that Jackson is a slow starter in the game, that he needs a few innings to get his feet wet before he starts pitching well.

Rays pitching coach Jim Hickey doesn't believe the perception is accurate.

"I honestly don't think it has a lot to do with him getting going, I just think he's more vulnerable to the big inning," Hickey said. "They don't beat him by stringing together a two, a one and a one. It's usually a zero, a zero, a four or a five -- if he gets in trouble."

Hickey believes Jackson's results are less about being a slow starter and more about "somebody who needs to minimize the damage when the going gets tough."

Hickey quickly added that Jackson has improved on the big innings, but "that's still his Achilles heel, the three, four and five spot in that one inning."

"Basically, what it comes down to is Edwin is a power pitcher, period, he's not a control pitcher," Hickey said. "He needs to throw with a little better command and needs to execute pitches better, which is why he is a little bit vulnerable to the big inning, because you end the big inning by making pitches, not by turning it up two or three notches and overpowering guys.

"Don't get me wrong, he's done a good job overall, but if he's going to be really good, he's going to have to minimize those multiple-run innings."

Hickey doesn't think Jackson will ever become a pitcher with pinpoint control.

"What's going to get him to the next place is his ability to minimize the big inning, and it's not necessarily command," Hickey said. "But just maybe backing off, focusing, executing the pitching and getting out of that inning with the one or two runs instead of the four or the five runs."

Pitching matchup
TB: RHP Edwin Jackson (4-5, 4.06 ERA)
Jackson is 2-3 with a 4.04 ERA in seven starts at Tropicana Field this season.

FLA: RHP Ricky Nolasco (6-4, 4.63 ERA)
Nolasco is 1-0 with a 4.26 ERA in one career start against the Rays.

Tidbits
Trever Miller and his wife, Pari, competed in a triathlon at Lake Jovita early Saturday morning. Included in the competition were a 600-meter swim, 10-mile bicycle ride and a 5K run that was modified to 2.7 miles due to standing water on the course. The couple finished in one hour and 50 minutes. "Not a great time, but we finished together, hand-in-hand," Miller said. "I think maybe we beat three people." ... Carl Crawford, who served the second game of his four-game suspension Saturday night, enjoyed seeing Cliff Floyd's stolen base in Friday night's game. He particularly enjoyed the fact that the veteran slugger was wearing a pair of Crawford's shoes. ... Justin Ruggiano's first-inning stolen base Saturday night was the first of his career. ... Carlos Pena (broken left index finger) believes he will be ready to resume playing once he's eligible to come off the disabled list Thursday. ... The Rays signed three more selections from the First-Year Player Draft: C Jacob Jefferies, University of California-Davis (third round); OF Jason Corder, Long Beach State (seventh round); and LHP Shawn Smith, Saugus (Calif.) High School (ninth round).

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Up next
• Monday: Off-day
• Tuesday: Rays (Scott Kazmir, 6-2, 1.74) vs. Cubs (Ryan Dempster, 8-2, 2.81), 7:10 p.m. ET
• Wednesday: Rays (Andy Sonnanstine, 7-3, 4.89) vs. Cubs (Carlos Zambrano, 8-2, 2.98), 7:10 p.m. ET