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Behind enemy lines

Email|Link|Comments (0) Posted by Chad Finn, Globe Staff October 16, 2008 12:22 PM

Our look at what others are saying about the Red Sox-Rays matchup.

Will tonight bring the coronation of a new and improbable king of the American League? Perhaps, but don't expect the Tampa Bay players to admit as much.

The Rays, one victory from the first World Series berth in their mostly miserable 11-year existence, are doing their best to downplay such a notion, with reliever J.P. Howell telling the Tampa Tribune's John Henderson that they're trying to look at it as just another game, their 171st of the season:

"We have to avoid looking at that and keep going with just 171," Howell said. "I say it out loud because that's the best way we can be. ... If we're looking at one more game to clinch, that ain't going to be good."

Adds Rocco Baldelli:

"We're playing really well right now, so there's no reason to start changing our mind-set now and start thinking about lofty goals like going to the World Series," Rocco Baldelli said. "We have a game to play tonight and I'm sure that's what every guy in this clubhouse is worried about."

To their credit, the Rays have shown a total aversion to pressure in this postseason. Sounds like they're doing their best to make sure it remains that way.

Tribune columnist Martin Fennelly says that while Rays manager Joe Maddon has earned the benefit of the doubt since he's had a golden touch all season, it's fair to wonder if he overthought the situation when he decided to flip Scott Kazmir and James Shields in the rotation:

Maddon put in long hours with his brainish trust, crunched numbers and notions and decided to alter his starting rotation and go with a wing and probably a prayer - Kazmir, shaky to the core of late, to seal the Red Sox coffin tonight at Fenway Park in Game 5 of the ALCS.
James Shields, the team's best clutch starter, will go in Game 6 at the tarps-off Trop if necessary.

I say Shields should go tonight.

For what it's worth, the feeling here is that Maddon made a gutsy and shrewd move, and probably the correct one. Shields's numbers were so much better at Tropicana Field this season (9-2, 2.59 ERA) than on the road that the Rays should have been questioned had they not made such a switch. (He also had a 21.21 ERA at Fenway this season.) Of course, if the shaky Kazmir gets lit up tonight, and the resilient Sox gain some momentum heading into Game 6, Maddon will have opened himself up to a winter's worth of second-guessing . . .

Elsewhere: Yahoo!'s Jeff Passan takes an entertaining look at the Rays' emerging young superstars, B.J. Upton and Evan Longoria . . . CNNSI's John Donovan says Maddon made the right call with his starters . . . ESPN.com's Scoop Jackson says Upton is the new face of "urban" baseball . . . Finally, Newsday's Wallace Matthews whines that the Yankees' revenue-sharing loot has helped make the Rays a monster.