Maddon not sensitive to this pressure point

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - If you're thinking that David Ortiz unconsciously provided some "bulletin board" material for the Rays, well, in a way he did. Tampa Bay's manager said as much before Game 2, though it isn't what you might think.

Instead of being offended by Ortiz's hint that the Rays might be feeling playoff pressure, Joe Maddon concurred with the Boston slugger.

"That was our first foray into [the American League Championship Series] and I'd like to believe we're going to come out and be more typical [in Game 2]," said Maddon, whose team managed only four singles in a 2-0 loss Friday. "But I can't disagree with [Ortiz]."

It was the veteran designated hitter who late Friday evening assessed Boston's impressive Game 1 by saying he saw a different Tampa Bay team than the one that won the AL East.

"In the regular season, it's totally different than the playoffs," Ortiz told reporters. "I'm the kind of guy, I watch everybody's faces. I'm telling you, I saw faces different than what I see in the regular season. It's a lot of pressure out there right now, because you have to win. Otherwise, you go home."

Maddon conceded that his team wasn't loose Friday night, that his hitters seemed tense and failed to capitalize on their chances.

"It primarily manifested itself in the pitches that we swung at," said Maddon, whose players struck out 11 times, nine against Daisuke Matsuzaka.

But the manager stopped well short of saying that playoff pressure had overwhelmed his club. He pointed out that twice in September the Red Sox won the first game of a three-game set against Tampa Bay, only to see the Rays bounce back both times and win two in a row. And it wasn't like his club was overmatched.

"It was a very close game," he said. "It was 2-0. Neither team played well on offense. That happens sometimes."

As for the facial look that Ortiz talked about, Maddon nodded his head, but added, "However, [the Red Sox] had kind of the same look themselves."

Power surge
B.J. Upton's third-inning home run was his fourth of the postseason, an achievement that required just 24 at-bats. He hit his fourth regular-season home run in his 212th at-bat . . . Scott Kazmir may not get another chance to pitch in this ALCS, but if he doesn't, chances are he'll be glad to be rid of the Red Sox. In his fifth start against Boston this season, the 24-year-old lefthander was shelled in his 4 1/3 innings, allowing five runs on six hits, and three home runs (two by Dustin Pedroia). Kazmir, who in previous seasons seemed to have Boston's number, has yielded nine home runs and 23 runs in 22 1/3 innings this season against the Red Sox . . . The sum of Grant Balfour's short work in Games 1 and 2: He hit one batter, walked two, gave up a home run, and got four outs . . . When Edwin Jackson was added to the ALCS roster as the 11th pitcher, Maddon apparently meant that the righthander was indeed No. 11 on the depth chart. That's because when lefthander David Price was called into the game in the 11th inning, it meant Jackson was the only available pitcher left . . . In the two games, the Rays struck out 20 times, nine of them called.

Hitting their stride
Akinori Iwamura (infield hit with one out in the ninth) has hit safely in all six of the Rays' postseason games . . . It took Tampa Bay just 13 at-bats to get five hits. The Rays had four hits in 32 at-bats Friday . . . After delivering a run-scoring single in the third, Carl Crawford got picked off by Josh Beckett . . . Right fielder Gabe Gross made all three putouts in the third inning . . . Gross and Jason Bartlett, Nos. 8-9 in the lineup, were a combined 0 for 11 before Bartlett beat out an infield single in the sixth . . . When Balfour hit J.D. Drew Friday night, it continued a trend between these AL East rivals. Rays pitchers have now hit Red Sox batters 15 times this year, compared with 11 Tampa Bay hitters plunked by Boston pitchers. To measure how the rivalry has grown, consider that in the first three years of Tampa Bay's existence (1998-2000), 13 Rays were hit by pitches, just 10 Red Sox. But in the past eight years, the totals have risen dramatically - 92 Red Sox batters hit, 72 Rays . . . Tampa Bay officials stuck with a formula that worked - local youngster B.K. Jackson playing the national anthem on the saxophone.

Popping the clutch
The Rays were 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position Friday night, which puts a focus on one of the few aspects of their season that was not a strength. During the regular season, Tampa Bay hit just .246 with runners in scoring position. Of the Rays' regulars, only Dioner Navarro (.314) hit over .300 with runners in scoring position and just one other player - Bartlett, .297 - hit over .270. Carlos Peña (.259), Evan Longoria (.241), and Crawford (.267) represent the heart of the order, and none of them shined when faced with the precious RISP situation. The Red Sox, meanwhile, had four players in the lineup last night who hit over .300 with runners in scoring position during the regular season (Pedroia, Ortiz, Kevin Youkilis, and Mark Kotsay), while four others (Jacoby Ellsbury, Jason Bay, Jed Lowrie, and Drew) were between .277 and .297 . . . After two days of 85-degree temperatures and comfortable indoor conditions, the series shifts to Boston for tomorrow's Game 3, which prompted someone to ask Maddon whether he was prepared for cooler weather. The native of Hazleton, Pa., smiled. "We'll see how cold. It could be really cold. That's not good," he said. "I know on the sidelines I get cold easily. I grew up in Pennsylvania and I remember minus-46 with a windchill; now I freeze in 40-degree weather." For the record, if the forecast is correct, tomorrow afternoon should be of no concern, with temperatures in the 60s by game time. But either way, Maddon did not seem concerned. "I think our guys at this time of year, I'd like to believe they're not going to be impacted so much by that."

Talking . . . baseball?
Last night's pitching matchup featured two first-round draft picks out of Houston-area high schools: Beckett (No. 2 pick in 1999, by the Marlins) and Kazmir (No. 15 in 2002, by the Mets). Kazmir pitched four consecutive no-hitters in high school and broke Beckett's season record for strikeouts, yet the Rays lefthander speaks with great respect about his opponent. "I've watched him since high school," Kazmir said. "You just pick up a lot of things from a guy like that. I get a chance to talk to him whenever I can and kind of pick apart his brain and see what I can put into my game." At least that's how Kazmir sees it. Beckett being Beckett, his view of their relationship was different. "I don't think we've talked too much about anything like that," he said. "I think [all these] pitchers from Texas, generally we end up talking about fishing or hunting or something like that."

Stargazing?
There's no denying that Tampa Bay has earned its way into this ALCS, but when you're accustomed to Red Sox-Yankees baseball in October that attracts Hollywood-style glitz and glamour, well, you've got to accept that the celebrity sightings aren't going to be quite what they've been in the past. Consider the array of "celebrities" who were reportedly in attendance for Game 1: rapper Lil Wayne; Mike Alstott, who is known far and wide within the borders of Tampa as a former NFL fullback; and David Archuleta, a onetime "American Idol" contestant. Not quite Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Billy Crystal, Donald Trump material, is it? . . . The Tampa Tribune did catch up to one fan of note: author Stephen King. The king of horror from Maine is an unabashed Red Sox fan, but he spends periods of the year in nearby Sarasota and told a reporter that he's on a partial season-ticket plan with the Rays. "The Red Sox are my wife," he told the reporter, "and the Rays are my mistress." . . . Chuck LaMar, who was Tampa Bay's first GM and remained in that position until 2005, now works for the Phillies and was in attendance, scouting for a possible World Series matchup . . . Two years ago, Florida joined a growing list of states to legalize ticket scalping. To maintain some order, Rays officials have designated an area where scalpers can work their trade. Located between Gates 5 and 6, the area was a busy place before Game 1 Friday night, where the going price for a ticket ran upward of $200.