Kansas City, Mo. ? Kyle Davies’ recent struggles have landed him back in the minors.

The Kansas City Royals sent the scuffling right-hander to Triple-A Omaha on Saturday and activated reliever Robinson Tejeda off the 15-day disabled list.

Davies (3-7, 5.67 ERA) finished strong in 2008 and had a solid start to this season, but has one win in his last nine starts. He allowed eight runs and nine hits in 22/3 innings in a 10-5 loss to St. Louis on Friday night. It was the fifth time in 11 starts he has allowed seven or more runs.

The Royals are hoping time in Omaha will help he 25-year-old regain the form that helped him go 4-1 with a 2.27 earned-run average last September.

“He’s just got to command the ball better,” Royals manager Trey Hillman said before Saturday’s game against St. Louis. “He needs to be more efficient with all his pitches, but specifically location of the pitches.”

With Sidney Ponson still on a rehab assignment, the Royals will go with a four-man rotation until June 27 against Pittsburgh. The right-hander’s sore elbow is feeling better, but the team wants to build up his innings gradually instead of rushing him back.

Ponson is scheduled to throw 40-45 pitches for Omaha today.

“It wasn’t one of those situations where we would be comfortable immediately jerking a guy off a rehab assignment,” Hillman said. “We want him to continue to build his innings, and to ask him to do that here at this level (won’t work). We’re doing the more prudent thing, in our opinion, bringing up extra bullpen help with somebody that’s shown the ability to lengthen out.”

That somebody is Tejeda, a young right-hander claimed off waivers from Texas in the middle of 2008. The 27-year-old Dominican has been one of Kansas City’s best middle relievers this season, with a 2.65 ERA in 12 appearances, but went on the DL on May 23 because of rotator cuff tendinitis.