Ace Kazmir has been putting team in holes

Aces are the wild cards, not only in Boston, where Josh Beckett has the citizenry nervous, but in Tampa Bay with Scott Kazmir.

Having developed into one of the anchors of the Rays' staff, despite being just 24, Kazmir suddenly is struggling. He was torched in Game 2, giving up five runs on six hits, three of them home runs, in just 4 1/3 innings, and his 38-pitch first inning against the Red Sox came on top of the 37-pitch effort he labored through to start Game 2 of the ALDS against Chicago.

Though the Rays rallied to win Saturday night's game, Kazmir's short outing only intensified the mystery about his effectiveness overall, but specifically against the Red Sox.

In 22 1/3 innings against Boston, the lefthander has been roughed up for 23 runs and a whopping nine home runs.

Still, manager Joe Maddon is not giving up. "I'm not discouraged," said Maddon. "I know a lot of people are. I know conventional wisdom pops in, [but] I'm not a conventional wisdomist - if that's a word."

Up until Sept. 1, Kazmir had allowed just 14 home runs; he's given up 12 since then, but if there's a Game 6, Maddon insists Kazmir will be there.

"He's a wonderful talent and he's going to be a big part of our organization for many years to come," said Maddon. "Absolutely [we are] going to show him support, no question."

Andy has been dandy

As for the 25-year-old righthander who'll take the mound for tonight's Game 4? Andy Sonnanstine accepts the challenge, riding a wave of confidence from two solid efforts against Boston within a week last month. On Sept. 10 at Fenway, Sonnanstine pitched seven innings and allowed just four hits and no earned runs in a game his team won, 4-2, in 13 innings. He pitched three-hit ball for six innings and didn't allow an earned run Sept. 16 at Tropicana Field as the Rays won, 2-1, in the bottom of the ninth. Those were his only starts against Boston this year; in six career starts, he's 1-1 with a 5.40 ERA in 33 1/3 innings against the Red Sox. "I know in my mind that it can be done," said Sonnanstine, who was 13-9 with a 4.38 ERA during the regular season. "I think it was pretty essential for my confidence." . . . Asked to describe his manager, Sonnanstine said, "One of the most intelligent managers I've ever had," he said, then he smiled. "But I was a little worried last year about him being so positive. It was a rough year and he stuck with it and kept our heads up."

Long and short of it

When Evan Longoria took Jon Lester deep in the third, he tied the record for most home runs by a rookie in one postseason. Of course, it took Miguel Cabrera 17 games to hit his four in 2003. Longoria has piled his up in just seven . . . As homecomings go, it was a pretty special one for former Northeastern standout Carlos Peña (2 for 5 with a home run) but that didn't mean he got to take great advantage of it. Though he has plenty of family in the area, Peña had just one ticket, which he gave to his father.

A difficult out

Carl Crawford gave it his best shot, but couldn't shake the ball free when he collided with Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek in the eighth. "I was out, so I was just trying to make something happen," said Crawford, who took off from third on contact when Dioner Navarro hit a hard ground ball at Dustin Pedroia, who was part of a drawn-in infield. "But [Varitek] made a great play." No matter, because Rocco Baldelli followed with a mammoth three-run home run to make it 8-1.