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Rays Decide To Switch Kazmir, Shields

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By MARC LANCASTER

mlancaster@tampatrib.com

Published: October 16, 2008

Updated: 10/16/2008 12:12 am

BOSTON - Needing only one win in three games to advance to the World Series, the Rays decided to try to cover themselves through the weekend rather than go for broke with their best pitcher tonight.

In deciding to start the struggling Scott Kazmir rather than James Shields tonight in Game 5, the Rays weren't just making a concession to the pitchers' wildly divergent track records at Fenway Park. They were trying to backstop themselves against a potential loss tonight no matter who was on the mound.

Manager Joe Maddon said it came down to the Rays setting up Kazmir as they have in his two previous starts during the playoffs. He'll be pitching immediately before an off day, allowing the bullpen a chance to recuperate if a number of innings need to be absorbed. At the same time, Shields - their most reliable innings-eater - would be pitching on the first day of potential back-to-back games if he goes Saturday and the Rays lose again, theoretically keeping everyone fresh for Game 7.

"Being in the position we're in, we like the idea of pitching Kazmir again with a day off to follow," Maddon said. "We also like the idea, if we had to get down to it, that Shields pitches at home, and the fact that Kaz has had some success here in Boston."

Kazmir is 4-4 with a 3.02 ERA at Fenway Park, while Shields is 0-3 with a 10.12 ERA mark (and a 2.59 ERA at home this year) - numbers that led to suggestions before the series even began that the Rays might want to switch their Game 5 and Game 6 starters.

The Rays had internal discussions along those lines before the series began, according to Maddon, and he had kept the two pitchers apprised of the possibility that they might switch assignments this week.

"It wasn't anything that was really a surprise," Kazmir said Wednesday.

He added that he was eager for the opportunity to get back out on the mound and redeem himself after an ugly showing in Game 2 at Tropicana Field, even if he isn't necessarily thrilled about the Rays apparently setting up their pitching with some expectation that he might fail.

"The way everything's going right now, you can't really say anything, because I haven't really produced," Kazmir said. "It's all good.

"I just wish it would have been handled a little bit differently, but it's all good."

As for the theory that the switch was driven by the Rays' desire to avoid having Kazmir start with umpire Derryl Cousins behind the plate in Game 6 given Kazmir's harsh criticism of Cousins after a game in Anaheim earlier this season, both the pitcher and the manager said that wasn't a factor.

"It really has nothing to do with that," Maddon said.

"I don't think that's an issue at all," Kazmir said.

Quiet Time
Fenway Park hasn't seemed itself this week, even before the Rays' hitters began using the old yard as their own personal driving range. Energy has been decidedly lacking in a ballpark that can be claustrophobic when the natives are in their usual October frenzy, leading to a more sedate atmosphere that has been pointedly noted by the local media. The players have noticed, too.

"If this crowd gets going, it becomes really an uphill battle for us, kind of, to eliminate them," Evan Longoria said following Game 4. "It's been a little bit different these last couple days here. Nothing. It's been silent in the eighth and ninth inning and that's never happened here."

This And That

A very limited number of obstructed-view seats remain for Saturday's Game 6. They will go on sale at 9 this morning only at raysbaseball.com. ... Maddon said he may start Rocco Baldelli rather than Gabe Gross in right field tonight against Daisuke Matsuzaka. Gross is hitless in the ALCS and 1-for-12 with five strikeouts in the playoffs, but he is 2-for-4 lifetime against Matsuzaka. Baldelli has never faced the Boston starter. ... The Rays have established a couple of franchise firsts in the last few days: They never before had hit as many as 10 home runs in a three-game span, and they never had won consecutive road games by at least eight runs each. ... The Rays' four consecutive wins at Fenway Park have tied the club-record streak dating to 1999.

Mark Lancaster

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