Maddon amused by reaction to Kazmir decision

Joe Maddon certainly is a manager who marches to his own beat. And so when the Rays manager decided to make a last-minute pitching change for Game 5, opting to go with Scott Kazmir over James Shields, it appeared he had marched off the beaten path.

Asked about the reaction his decision had elicited, some believing that he had given the Sox an opening, Maddon seemed amused when he met with the media before Game 5 Thursday night.

"You look at Scott Kazmir, he's a two-time All-Star. He's the best pitcher in the history of this organization,'' Maddon said. "And if you told the people in Boston last year that Kaz was going to pitch against them, they'd cringe. And all of a sudden he's not that good.''

Reiterating the reason behind his move, Maddon said, "We had talked about this prior to the series ever beginning, if the circumstances presented themselves in a certain manner, and they have.

"So I do find it a bit amusing,'' Maddon added. "Like I said, you're talking about a very good pitcher right now, not just anybody. And he's pitched well in this ballpark in the past.''

Kazmir has 21 career regular-season starts against the Sox, which is eight more than any other opponent. So he is familiar with their lineup. He owns a 4-4 record and 3.02 ERA in 11 career starts at Fenway Park, but he struggled against Boston in Game 2 of the ALCS, allowing five runs on six hits in 4-1/3 innings, this after laboring through a 38-pitch first inning (one more than the first inning of his ALDS start against the White Sox) in which he gave up two runs. He departed in the fifth inning of Tampa Bay's 9-8 victory in 11 innings last Saturday night after giving up solo homers to Dustin Pedroia and Jason Bay.

"I know, more recently, he has not been on top of his game, absolutely,'' Maddon said. "And a big part of that to me, the difference being that he's given up more home runs. He's always been a high pitch-count guy, always, I know this has followed him all the way through. Sometimes it's a command issue, sometimes it's also a foul ball issue for me. He gives up a lot of foul balls on two strikes. And, furthermore, he's a strikeout guy.

"So all these factors are present. He's been this guy for the last couple years. And we thought about it, we though it was the right to do right now.''