MILWAUKEE -- Tom Gorzelanny's poor fifth inning Friday did more than get him removed from that game.

It also got him removed from the Pirates' rotation.

The Pirates yesterday sent the struggling left-hander to Class AAA Indianapolis.

"We felt he'd shifted into survival mode," general manager Neal Huntington said.

Huntington and manager John Russell said sending Gorzelanny to Indianapolis had been discussed for about a month.

"We've been trying to get him back on track," Russell said.

"We just haven't seen the improvements we wanted to."

The capper appeared to have been the fifth inning Friday when Gorzelanny walked four batters, allowed five runs and was visibly upset.

"He seemed frustrated," Huntington said.

"He seemed at a loss at times."

"You have to make the decision at some point," Russell said.

"It's not fair to him or to the team or to the organization to continue to have him try to figure things out up here. We felt it was in his interest and the organization's interest to get him down there where he can be in a little more of a controlled atmosphere."

Gorzelanny left Miller Park without talking to reporters.

Russell said Gorzelanny was "disappointed, upset" at hearing the news.

"I wouldn't expect it to be any different," Russell said.

"It's not an easy thing to hear. Our hope is that he embraces this."

Gorzelanny last season was 14-10 with a 3.88 earned run average.

This season, he's 6-7 with a 6.57 ERA.

"There's been an inability to throw his fastball where he needed to when he needed to," Huntington said.

"He's been inefficient over two- or three-inning spans to the point it's taxed the bullpen. We can't have him throwing 20-, 22-, 27-pitch innings."

Gorzelanny will be on what Huntington called "a multi-pronged program" at Indianapolis designed to help him command his fastball so that his changeup becomes a weapon and not a fallback main pitch.

"We have to get him attacking the bottom of the strike zone," Huntington said.

It's possible that when Gorzelanny starts for Indianapolis he'll pitch only three or four innings initially.

"The focus will be more on the quality of the innings," Russell said.

"Obviously he's a big part of our organization. The best thing for him now is to go down there and regroup. It's unfortunate, but this is not the first time this has happened to somebody."

For example, the Atlanta Braves a couple of days ago sent outfielder Jeff Francoeur to Class AA Mississippi to work on his swing.

"We want him to get back as quickly as possible, but we also don't want to rush the process," Russell said.

"We want him to be the pitcher he's capable of being. We didn't feel that was happening here."

Russell and Huntington stressed that health is not an issue with Gorzelanny, who had some shoulder discomfort early in spring training.

"Our medical people feel he's healthy," Huntington said. "This is a humbling game. It's a tough lesson Tom's going through."

Gorzelanny's spot on the 25-man roster will be filled tomorrow when left-hander Phil Dumatrait comes off the disabled list.

Gorzelanny's next start with the Pirates would have been Wednesday against Houston. John Van Benschoten, who didn't get out of the third inning in Cincinnati Wednesday night, probably will start against the Astros in Gorzelanny's stead.

"John's career track record has not been good," Huntington said. "But he has major league stuff. He just needs to go and apply it."