Kazmir to start Game 5; Shields bumped to Game 6

Joe Madden announced today that Scott Kazmir will start Game 5... not James Shields:

Part of Maddon's reasoning is that moving Kazmir to Thursday's start at Fenway would allow the manager to use his full complement of relievers, with a day off scheduled for Friday.

Further, with Shields, who tends to pitch deeper into games than Kazmir, taking the mound for Game 6, the Rays' bullpen would likely be better rested for a decisive Game 7 should the series get that far.

"We like using [Kazmir] with the day off coming afterwards, we're better able to utilize our bullpen that way," Maddon said on "First Take. "It also lets us pitch Shields at [Tropicana Field]."
Shields has been much better at home than on the road this season: he's 9-2 with a 2.59 ERA at the Trop, and 1-1 with 3.29 ERA in the postseason. Further, at Fenway this season, he's 0-2 with a 21.21 ERA in two starts.

Extra Bases has another possible reason for the switch:

Kazmir and Game 6 Umpire Derryl Cousins have some history... get the full story here.