Courtesy AP
Entering this game, it probably wasn’t very hard for anyone to imagine we would be treated to a pitching duel. We got exactly that on Thursday night, where James Shields was just a bit better than Sabathia and the Rays came away with a 2-1 victory. James Shields went 7.2 innings, striking out 6 with 3 walks and 1 earned run. Sabathia pitched 8 innings, struck out 7 while walking 4 and surrendering 2 earned runs. Both pitchers worked around some trouble at times and certainly were not as dominate as we’ve seen them at times so far, but this game lived up to the billing.
The Rays got on the board in the 1st after an Evan Longoria solo blast gave them a 1-0 lead. It was only the 2nd home run Sabathia has allowed since June began. They struck again in the 5th when Sam Fuld tripled to right and drove in Elliot Johnson to make it 2-0. The Yankees were able to get plenty of runners on base but never got anything going against Shields. He did a great job at limiting the Yankees ability to put together a rally. In the 8th though, the Yanks got on the board after Jeter doubled and then was driven in by Robinson Cano. The Rays then brought in Brandon Gomes to face Swisher with the tying run on second and two outs. Swisher flew out to right to extinguish the threat.
It’s hard to get too worked up about a 2-1 loss to a guy like James Shields. He managed to keep the Yankees off balance all night. The series with the Rays could have been a lot sweeter had they been able to nab that game on Tuesday. A split with a team like this though is nothing to be ashamed about. The weekend series with the A’s starts tomorrow at 7, stay cool and we’ll see you then.
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3 Responses to Shields Dominant, Rays Win 2-1
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It was an unfortunate losee for the Yankees, as CC went eight innings in the loss allowing 2 er. James Shields was devastating at times it seemed.
Can their be a scouting report on Brett Marshall? He is past 100 innings and is pitching much better of late. He strikes people out and generates a good percentage of ground balls.
Agree that it’s tough to get too worked up over losing to a pitcher like Shields with the season he’s having — Shields is nearly doing a 2010 Felix to the Yankees this season. Felix threw 26 innings of one-run ball against the Yanks; Shields is at four earned runs over 22 2/3 innings — however, the offense needs to wake up from its slumber soon. That .308 July wOBA is downright frightening.