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Howell Thriving In New Relief Role

Tribune photo by KELVIN MA

Rays reliever J.P. Howell is greeted in the dugout after getting out of a jam in the 10th inning against the White Sox on Sunday.

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 2, 2008

ST. PETERSBURG - The Rays were pleased enough to see LHP J.P. Howell fall into what appeared to be a comfortable niche as a long reliever earlier this year after some unsuccessful big-league turns as a starter.

Two months into the season, though, Manager Joe Maddon has been calling upon the youngest member of his seasoned relief corps for more important innings late in games and Howell has proven up to it.

"I have no problem with him in a tough situation - none," Maddon said Sunday after Howell improved to 4-0 with some nifty work to navigate a testy 10th inning before Gabe Gross' homer won it for the Rays.

After Howell worked a 1-2-3 ninth inning, Jim Thome opened the 10th with a perfectly placed broken-bat bloop into center field. With the Rays employing their usual shift that puts three infielders on the right-field side of second base, Thome's flare managed to elude B.J. Upton, Akinori Iwamura and Jason Bartlett. The DH kept moving the whole time and Upton couldn't get the ball back in to a covering Evan Longoria quickly enough to prevent Thome from sliding safely into second.

Pablo Ozuna came on to run for Thome and moved to third on a ground out by Paul Konerko. That forced the Rays' infield to play in on the edge of the grass, but Joe Crede couldn't punch one by them. He chopped a ball to Longoria, who made sure Ozuna stayed put before throwing to first, where Carlos Pena grabbed the off-line delivery and tagged Crede out.

That brought Nick Swisher to the plate, and with the crowd on its feet after the count went full, Howell got the inside-corner strike he had just missed a couple of times in the at-bat to strand the go-ahead run at third.

"That last pitch to Swish, I was like, 'If I paint it, I paint it,'" Howell said. "If not, I think it was Gary Glover warming up and I've got him coming in behind me - 100 percent trust in every guy behind me. That really puts a lot of confidence in me."

Sunday was the eighth time in 20 appearances this season Howell has turned in at least two scoreless innings. And it seems the better he performs in high-pressure situations, the better he feels the next time he's called upon to defuse one.

"It's definitely a certain kind of high you get and different juices flow that you can't really get unless you're out there on the mound," Howell said. "I can't get that away from the field and that's something you grow to love."

STATUS QUO: With an off day today, the Rays could have toyed with their starting rotation a bit, perhaps getting LHP Scott Kazmir a start at Fenway Park during the series that begins Tuesday, but they chose not to.

Though Fenway was the scene of Kazmir's only loss this season, May 4 in his first start after coming off the disabled list, he has always pitched well there, compiling a 3.02 ERA and striking out 64 batters in 562/3 innings in 10 starts.

"Somebody brought it up, but I really didn't want to do that - not right now," Maddon said. "He's coming back, he's doing nice work, and I didn't think it was necessary right now."

Leaving everyone in line, Kazmir's next start will come in Friday's series opener at Texas.

NOTEWORTHY: Thursday's game at Boston has been moved up to start at 6:05 p.m. because of traffic concerns with the Celtics-Lakers game scheduled for later that evening. ... RHP Al Reyes has allowed one hit in eight scoreless outings since returning from the disabled list May 14 - a bunt single by Alexei Ramirez on Sunday. ... The Rays' 5-1 record in extra-inning games is the best in the majors.

Marc Lancaster

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