"Gil Meche has adjusted whatever lofty goals he set for himself before the season, mentioning 10 wins and 170 innings as worthy aims.

More important than that, though: figuring out a way to make his 2010 season healthy and much better.

"I want to do a lot of things this offseason," he said, "to basically make sure this doesn't happen again next year. I guess we'll see."

After tying for the American League lead with 34 starts in each of the last two seasons - one of only five pitchers in baseball with that many starts during 2007-08 - Meche missed more than a month because of back problems.

Today will be his third start since returning from the disabled list; he gave up four earned runs in five innings in each of the previous two.

He's 6-9 with a 4.73 ERA in 118 innings. That ERA would be his highest since 2005.

Meche says he wants to get back to pitching at least seven innings in each of his starts, to help save the bullpen, and work into the kind of shape that can keep him healthy next season.

"Even though I don't feel anything in my back," he said, "like stiffness, soreness, like I was, I still feel like with the things I went through my back doesn't feel as strong. But I feel good. It's not like I'm pitching with any symptoms.""