Star Of The Game: Cole Hamels Hamels, the Philadelphia Phillies' left-handed ace, kept coming up big in the clutch. He recorded his fourth win of this postseason, defeating the Rays 3-2 in Wednesday night's Game 1 of the World Series at Tropicana Field. Hamels allowed five hits and two runs in seven innings of work, walking two and striking out five. He had a pair of 1-2-3 innings, while facing the minimum three batters in three other innings (thanks to a pair of double-play balls and one runner caught stealing). For the postseason, he is 4-0 with a 1.55 ERA, walking seven and striking out 27 in 29 innings. ...more

October 23, 2008

The desire to keep James Shields from pitching on short rest is the reason Scott Kazmir will get the start tonight in Game 1 of the World Series, but all parties involved feel a lot better about it after the way Kazmir's last start unfolded. ...more

October 22, 2008

It began with another reputation-minting start from a 24-year-old in his first full season in the majors and ended with a national coming-out party for a 23-year-old who has just over a month in the big leagues. ...more

October 21, 2008

Scott Kazmir's press conference ...more

October 21, 2008

The Rays likely won't make it official until today, but Scott Kazmir is expected to get the ball to open Game 1 of the World Series. ...more

October 21, 2008

Much has been made of Matt Garza's improved resistance to pressure and adversity since a June confrontation on the mound with catcher Dioner Navarro. ...more

October 19, 2008

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. ...more

October 18, 2008

In previous postseasons with the Florida Marlins and Boston Red Sox, he pitched to a 1.73 ERA and held opponents to a .159 batting average and .209 on-base percentage - all three the best all-time among pitchers with at least 40 postseason innings. ...more

October 18, 2008

BOSTON - How to explain the Rays' bullpen - rock solid throughout the postseason - blowing a seven-run lead in Game 5 of the ALCS Thursday night at Fenway Park? ...more

October 17, 2008

Talk about having something to prove. Scott Kazmir couldn't have asked for a higher level of motivation as he took the mound Thursday. ...more

October 17, 2008