Kazmir knows about this foe
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - He's in foreign waters with this American League Championship Series stuff, but Scott Kazmir will be surrounded by familiar faces when he takes the mound in tonight's Game 2 at Tropicana Field. His Tampa Bay teammates and a home crowd? Well, sure, but there will be the matter of the opposition.
Kazmir, though just 24, is four full seasons into his major league career. But you'll excuse Red Sox fans for suggesting that it feels as if the Houston native has been around a lot longer. After all, he has started 21 games against Boston, eight more than his next most common foe, Baltimore.
It's no surprise, then, that Kazmir has more wins over the Red Sox (he's 6-7) than any team other than Oakland, against whom he's 6-2. His Red Sox mark includes a 2-3 record at The Trop, but most impressive is the ERA - 3.62 over 119 1/3 innings. He accomplished much of this when the Rays were grossly overmatched against a far superior Red Sox lineup.
Asked for the secret of his success against Boston, Kazmir said, "I don't know, [because] this is a team that always has a lot of depth and is a quality baseball team. I've just been lucky enough to have had some successful outings against them."
Kazmir was considered a mainstay of the Rays' staff before the season, and team officials showed their commitment by offering him a three-year deal that he gladly signed. Having been acquired in a deal with the New York Mets in 2004, the young lefthander felt he was where he wanted to be.
"It felt like the right move to continue playing here," said Kazmir. "I just enjoyed being with all these guys [I] kind of grew up with and came up through the ranks with."
Convinced there was great promise here, Kazmir rewarded the Rays with another effective season - a 12-8 record, 3.49 ERA, and 166 strikeouts over 152 1/3 innings.
Though he's certainly made his presence felt against Boston since 2005, Kazmir went 0-2 with a 9.00 ERA in four starts and 18 innings against the Red Sox this year. Most painful was arguably the worst start of his career - a three-inning-plus effort Sept. 15 at The Trop in which the Red Sox had nine runs on six hits, four of them home runs.
Yet in light of the improbable success the Rays have enjoyed, that performance is an ancient memory. More fresh in manager Joe Maddon's mind is what Kazmir did in Game 2 of the Division Series against the White Sox.
Kazmir was roughed up for two runs in the first inning, which required 37 pitches. Many kept waiting for Maddon's hook, but what they saw was the lefty reward the manager's patience.
"A lot of guys when they're faced with that moment tend to go the other way," said Maddon. "Then they're out of the game and they don't give you five or six innings."
Kazmir gave Maddon 5 1/3 innings that day and didn't allow another run after that shaky first.
Hinske left out
As expected, Maddon elected to go with 11 pitchers and 14 positional players for the ALCS, a decision that puts Eric Hinske on the sideline. "They want to carry an extra pitcher and I'm the odd man out," Hinske told the St. Petersburg Times. "It's not about me. It's about the team winning ballgames." Hinske, who earned a World Series ring as a member of the Red Sox last year, hit 20 home runs during the season for the Rays, but did not play in the ALDS . . . The 11th pitcher will be righthander Edwin Jackson, who got the call over 39-year-old Troy Percival. Percival pitched in 50 games this season, going 2-1 with a 4.53 ERA in 45 2/3 innings, but he was plagued by lower back problems.Not on Bay's watch
Cliff Floyd begrudgingly gave credit to Boston starter Daisuke Matsuzaka. He was more free with his praise of left fielder Jason Bay, however. "A ton," said Floyd, when asked how much credit Bay deserved for keeping Floyd to a single in the seventh inning. It was a poke into the gap in left-center that sent Carl Crawford to third. As Floyd rounded first, he figured he'd have a double. "I went halfway and if he has any type of bobble, I'm going to second," said Floyd. "There are no bonehead plays in this situation. Late in the game, you have to make sure that you can get there." Floyd stayed at first, feeling he was giving his team a chance. But what happened next added to Tampa Bay's despair, because Matsuzaka retired Dioner Navarro (fly out), Gabe Gross (strikeout), and Jason Bartlett (fielder's choice) to escape the jam . . . Floyd said he had no problem with Evan Longoria (sixth inning, none on) and Carlos Peña (eighth inning, two on) getting the green light on 3-and-0 pitches. Both were retired on fly balls to right. "If we get a hit there, then we're talking about how great it is," said Floyd . . . Floyd was 2 for 7 with the bases loaded this year before he grounded to second to leave three teammates aboard in the first. Opposing batters are now 0 for 15 with the bases loaded against Matsuzaka in 2008.