Maddon shuffles lineup for Game 5
Regular 2-3-4 hitters dropped down, Crawford bumped up
PHILADELPHIA -- In light of Carlos Pena's and Evan Longoria's struggling bats, Rays manager Joe Maddon altered his lineup for Game 5 of the World Series on Monday.
Carl Crawford moved from the fifth spot in the order back to second -- his regular spot in the lineup before hurting his right hand in August -- and B.J. Upton moved back to the third spot. Rocco Baldelli will start in right field and hit in the No. 7 spot.
"Carl has been swinging the bat well," Maddon said. "He's a familiar No. 2 hitter. B.J. looks like he's got his RBI swing back together. I just thought it was something that we did early in the year also, at different times ... unfreeze the situation a little bit."
Meanwhile, Pena and Longoria moved from the third and fourth spots to the fourth and fifth spots, respectively.
"I just wanted to tweak [the lineup] a little bit," Maddon said. "Just see if Carl can get up there and stir it up a bit. Just unfreeze Longo and Carlos a little bit from where they had been hitting and just see if it makes a difference or not. It's a minor adjustment."
Game 5 Lineups | |
| Rays | Phillies |
| 1) Iwamura, 2B | 1) Rollins, SS |
| 2) Crawford, LF | 2) Werth, RF |
| 3) Upton, CF | 3) Utley, 2B |
| 4) Pena, 1B | 4) Howard, 1B |
| 5) Longoria, 3B | 5) Burrell, LF |
| 6) Navarro, C | 6) Victorino, CF |
| 7) Baldelli, RF | 7) Feliz, 3B |
| 8) Bartlett, SS | 8) Ruiz, C |
| 9) Kazmir, P | 9) Hamels, P |
Pena and Longoria have combined to go 0-for-29 with 15 strikeouts in this series. Both players struck out twice in Sunday night's 10-2 Game 4 loss to the Phillies. In two playoff series prior to the World Series, the duo combined to hit .295 (23-for-78) with nine home runs. They hit .360 (9-for-25) in the American League Division Series and .264 (14-53) in the ALCS.
Maddon was asked if he considered benching either Pena or Longoria.
"No, I just wanted to do something to clear their minds a little bit," Maddon said. "More than anything, it was more to give them a different outlook on the day. They're basically still hitting in the same order."
Ben Zobrist started in right field in Game 1 and went 1-for-3 against Cole Hamels, the Phillies' Game 5 starter, but Maddon opted to go with Baldelli on a hunch.
"Ben's done a nice job," Maddon said. "I just wanted to get Rocco out there. I know he's ready to play. Rocco can do something special I believe -- not that the other guys can't -- but I think Rocco's capable of doing something extraordinary. So I just wanted to get him out there."
Bill Chastain is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.





