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Shields Happy To Be On The Spot

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By MARC LANCASTER

mlancaster@tampatrib.com

Published: October 18, 2008

ST. PETERSBURG - There's no one the Rays would rather have on the mound tonight than James Shields as they try to bounce back from a potentially devastating Game 5 loss. And their gutsiest pitcher feels pretty good about the situation himself.

"I wouldn't have minded winning the other night," Shields said Friday when asked if he was pleased to be the man on the spot. "But I'm ready to take the ball, if that's what you mean."

Shields was the tough-luck loser on the short end of Daisuke Matsuzaka's shutout effort in Game 1 and has been idling for a week. He played it loose and confident on the eve of his chance to send the Rays to the World Series, but his peers figured Shields' competitive juices already were surging.

"It's like Christmas Eve for him; he's really chomping at the bit," J.P. Howell said Friday. "Anyone who's nervous, take a look at him and you won't be anymore because he'll lead the charge, for sure."

Teammates B.J. Upton and Dan Wheeler said they were excited to watch Shields work his magic at Tropicana Field, where he was 9-2 with a 2.59 ERA during the regular season and has allowed five earned runs in 132/3 innings over two playoff starts.

"He's been a pretty big go-to guy for us," Wheeler said. "To have him going out there at home with our fans, it's going to be pretty exciting to see."

It could also be something of a defining moment for Shields, who clearly views himself as a pitcher with the makings of being a staff anchor. He has held that role the last two seasons, but doing it in the postseason is something else entirely.

His Game 6 opponent, Josh Beckett, has held that mantle in previous playoff trips, and Shields would like nothing more than to take it for himself tonight.

"This is who I want to be," Shields said. "I'm ready to take that next step in my career."

Praise For Kaz

Teammates and Manager Joe Maddon alike went out of their way to praise Game 5 starter Scott Kazmir for his six shutout innings. The key may have been Kazmir radically altering the pitch selection he has employed much of the season.

The lefty leaned far more heavily on the slider he has been tentative to use since suffering an elbow injury in spring training, and it proved particularly effective Thursday.

"One of the things I was taught early on as a catcher was to not permit your pitcher to get wild with his fastball," Maddon said. "So I wanted him to throw other pitches. Not just keep trying to find your fastball; throw your slider more often, throw your changeup more often, mix the other pitches in. I said to him that I thought he would feel his fastball better because of that. The one thing I saw was that he threw more sliders and had some big strikeouts with it, too."

Going With The Usual

Maddon caught considerable grief in some circles for sticking with RHP Grant Balfour against David Ortiz in the seventh inning at-bat that resulted in Ortiz's game-changing three-run homer instead of going to one of the lefties in the Rays' bullpen.

Maddon didn't see anything to second-guess, noting he has used Balfour regularly in such situations all year with abundant success. As Maddon pointed out, Ortiz's homer was the first Balfour had allowed to a left-handed hitter this season. In fact, during the regular season lefties were only 10-for-83 (.120) against Balfour, compared to an 18-for-113 mark (.159) by right-handed hitters.

Wrong Place, Wrong Time

RF Gabe Gross was on the receiving end of a couple of huge hits in Boston's remarkable rally Thursday.

Had he been able to break back hard and catch J.D. Drew's liner in the bottom of the ninth - hardly a sure thing given how well the ball was hit - the outcome might have been different. And the same could be said for the tying run scored by Mark Kotsay in the eighth on Coco Crisp's single.

Gross is known for his strong, and usually accurate throwing arm - the primary reason he has remained in the lineup despite some difficulties at the plate - but his effort to nail Kotsay at the plate was a dud.

"It was a perfect ball to make a throw on, a line drive that hopped up and hit me right in the chest," Gross said. "I felt like I was going to have a good chance to throw him out and my left foot came down to plant and it just skidded about a foot and a half. It's something that during the course of the year that may happen to me two or three times."

Carlos Pena ended up cutting off the throw and nabbing Crisp at second to end the inning, but the damage had been done.

This & That

Gov. Charlie Crist will throw out the ceremonial first pitch before tonight's game. He previously did the honors for the Rays' home opener in April, a loss to the Mariners. ... The Rays have two finalists for 2008 Players Choice Awards: Evan Longoria for AL Outstanding Rookie and Troy Percival for AL Comeback Player of the Year. ... Thursday's loss was the Rays' first of the season after they held a lead of at least five runs. They were 38-0 prior to the Game 5 defeat.

Marc Lancaster

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