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It’s official, Scott Kazmir has switched places with James Shields and will start game 5 of the ALCS against the Red Sox at Fenway Park tonight. The Rays lead the series 3 games to 1, a familiar spot for the Sox in recent years (2004 and 2007).
The thinking behind this, or so I’m told, is that Shields is 0-3 against Boston in Fenway this year and Kazmir has a good record against the Red Sox, even at Fenway. Some have speculated that Shields may be hurt, but I didn’t see evidence of that in game 1. He was just barely out-pitched in that game by Matsuzaka. Both men pitched well enough to win!
I hope the Rays aren’t counting their chickens before they hatch by making this move to better position their rotation for the World Series. Things have a tendency to come back to haunt you when you do things like that and some have mentioned something about a curse in Boston before. Could Joe Maddon and the Rays be creating their own curse by making such a move? You decide…
Recent history has told us that when you have Boston down, don’t give them any room to breathe! Just ask the 2004 Yankees and last year’s Indians about doing that. I don’t think they’d recommend it.
My prediction, the Sox will win tonight against Kazmir. He just hasn’t been pitching well as of late.
The first team to win the coveted fourth game in this series will host the 2008 NL Champion Philadelphia Phillies and in my opinion, either way, this World Series match up is a win for baseball. What do you think?
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