He's in foreign waters with this American League Championship Series stuff, but
Scott Kazmir will be surrounded by familiar faces when he takes the mound in tonight's Game 2 at Tropicana Field. His
Tampa Bay Rays teammates and a home crowd? Well, sure, but there will be the matter of the opposition.
Kazmir, though just 24, is four full seasons into his major league career. But you'll excuse
Boston Red Sox fans for suggesting that it feels as if the Houston native has been around a lot longer. After all, he has started 21 games against Boston, eight more than his next most common foe, Baltimore.
It's no surprise, then, that Kazmir has more wins over the Red Sox (he's 6-7) than any team other than Oakland, against whom he's 6-2. His Red Sox mark includes a 2-3 record at The Trop, but most impressive is the ERA - 3.62 over 119 1/3 innings. He accomplished much of this when the Rays were grossly overmatched against a far superior Red Sox lineup.
Asked for the secret of his success against Boston, Kazmir said, "I don't know, [because] this is a team that always has a lot of depth and is a quality baseball team. I've just been lucky enough to have had some successful outings against them."
Source:
Boston.com