BOSTON – If the Boston Red Sox needed any encouragement going into Game 5 of their American League Championship Series against the Tampa Bay Rays, they got it today when Rays manager Joe Maddon announced he?d be starting lefty Scott Kazmir Thursday night.The original rotation called for James Shields ? who dueled Daisuke Matsuzaka last Friday in Game 1 ? to pitch again Thursday. But Maddon, with three games to play with in this series, has decided to save Shields for a possible Game 6 in St. Petersburg, Fla.Kazmir hasn?t been much of a mystery to the Red Sox lately. They lit him up for six runs on nine hits ? including four home runs ? in a 13-5 victory at Tropicana Field in September. And last Saturday night, the Red Sox continued to pound his offerings to the tune of five runs on six hits in only 4 1/3 innings ? and three home runs ? in what was eventually a 9-8 loss.The Red Sox will take any encouragement they can get in this series. Since they knocked Kazmir out of the box in Game 2, they?ve only scored eight runs in three games ? and four of those game Saturday. Both Matt Garza and Andy Sonnanstine shut them down in successive nights at Fenway Park Monday and Tuesday.There could be several reasons for the move. One of them being Kazmir’s recent ineffectiveness, if repeated, would hurt the Rays less Thursday, since, if they lose, they still have two game in Florida in which to wrap up the American League pennant ? and two of their best pitchers ready in Shields and Garza.”We like using (him) with the day off coming afterwards, we’re better able to utilize our bullpen that way,” Maddon said on ESPN?s “First Take.” “It also lets us pitch Shields at (Tropicana Field).”Shields was 9-2, with a 2.59 ERA at The Trop during the regular season. He?s 1-1 in the postseason, but the loss came to Matsuzaka on a night where the Red Sox pitcher no-hit the Rays into the seventh inning and combined with three other pitchers to shut them out, 2-0.There’s also the matter of umpire Derryl Cousins, who?s slated to be behind the plate Saturday night if there?s a Game 6. Kazmir was highly critical of Cousins in a loss in June to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, in which he accused the umpire of “makeup calls.”