The Rays get three chances to eliminate the Red Sox and tonight they send Scott Kazmir against Daisuke Matsuzaka. Maddon's reasoning for the Kazmir start has to do with bullpen use:

Maddon said he talked about this move even before the series started. Helping him make the decision, he said, was that Wednesday was an off-day, and if a Game 6 is necessary, Friday also is an off-day.

His reasoning is that the bullpen should be fresh, which is important because Kazmir doesn't tend to pitch deep into games.

In two postseason starts, he has lasted a total of 9 2/3 innings.

"We like the fact that he's pitching with an open day following, the ability to utilize the entire bullpen," Madden said. "We also like the idea of him pitching here, and we like the idea of Shields' being able to pitch at home, if necessary.

Again, it's a win in six or seven, not win in five strategy. If Shields were to pitch and lose tonight, and Kazmir pitches badly on Saturday, the bullpen would be blown out for Sunday. This way, if the bullpen needs to pitch four or five innings tonight, they have a day to recover. Kazmir is averaging 4 2/3 innings this post season, and averaged just over five innings a start in September.

Against that is Daisuke Matsuzaka who has been down and up in this post season. The Angels gave him some trouble, scoring three runs in five innings, but he shutout the Rays for seven in game one. Daisuke was much more himself in that game, walking four but allowing just four hits.

It's an 8:07 start on TBS, and it seems to me there's a good chance the Red Sox come out on top in this one.

Enjoy!