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Maddon Keeps Rays' ALCS Rotation Simple

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By MARC LANCASTER

mlancaster@tampatrib.com

Published: October 9, 2008

ST. PETERSBURG - When it came to lining up the Rays' rotation for the American League Championship Series, Joe Maddon kept it simple.

The Rays, he announced Wednesday, will go with the same order that served them well in the Division Series win against the White Sox: James Shields in Game 1, followed by Scott Kazmir, Matt Garza and "probably" Andy Sonnanstine.

Why?

"I just like it that way," Maddon said. "It's no different from the first round in a sense."

So, the same logic applies. Shields is the one Rays starter who can be counted upon to pitch deep into a game just about every time out, so he makes sense as the guy to set the tone. Kazmir has had trouble with high pitch counts driving him from games earlier, but if the Rays need to lean heavily on their relievers in his start, they'll have a day off to recuperate before Game 3.

The Game 4 situation remains up in the air because Shields conceivably could come back and pitch that day if needed. But Maddon indicated the only scenario that would bring that into consideration would be if Sonnanstine was needed in relief earlier in the series. The Rays wouldn't hesitate to use Sonnanstine in that way if needed, Maddon said, but they ultimately would prefer to let the first four start in order - keeping in mind that Sonnanstine didn't allow an earned run in two starts against Boston in September.

An extra day off between Games 4 and 5 also would give the Rays some flexibility in determining who would pitch the final two games of the series, if necessary.

The Red Sox also unveiled their rotation Wednesday, with Manager Terry Francona planning to start Daisuke Matsuzaka in the opener and continue on with Josh Beckett, Jon Lester and Tim Wakefield.

Perhaps the best news in that alignment for the Rays is they'll have a chance to build up a head of steam before seeing Lester for the first time. The lefty owned them during the regular season, allowing two earned runs in 20 innings while going 3-0.

It will be up to Shields to get the Rays off to a good start, and he was pleased to draw Game 1 duty once again.

"Let's do it again," he said. "I think they had confidence in me in the last series and I got the job done and hopefully we get the job done again."

Reporter Marc Lancaster can be reached at (813) 259-7227.

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