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Friday, June 18, 2010
Shields out-dueled, Rays lose second in a row
Posted by Kevin Tall on Fri, Jun 18, 2010 at 12:40 AM
Starting pitching again ruled the day as the Tampa Bay Rays dropped their second game to the Atlanta Braves, 3-1. In an outing that played out like a chess match, Tampa’s James Shields put up a valiant effort, but in the end succumbed to Atlanta’s Grand Master, Tommy Hudson. The game was rain-delayed but apparently not long enough to inspire the 10-run shellacking the Rays tuned the Braves up with Tuesday night. I suppose the duration of a given rain delay needs to stretch at least into an hour to get the offense primed.
Those tuning in on Sun Sports may have heard announcer Brian Anderson talk about Hudson’s propensity for getting hitters to ground out and he delivered as advertised, getting 15 outs on ground balls, including a double play. Hudson also picked off B.J. Upton at first and nearly did the same to Carl Crawford, who ended up getting caught stealing. Atlanta’s ace gave up only one run on four hits, with Crawford scoring on Carlos Pena’s two-out single in the fourth inning. One run through four innings may not seem like much but it’s a windfall in games like this one. The Rays weren't able to build off of it, however, as Jason Heyward hit a deep home run in the bottom of the frame to squash any potential momentum. The Braves got to Shields twice more in the sixth to take the lead for the remainder of the game after manager Joe Maddon intentionally loaded the bases and Braves 1B dropped a hit just out of Ben Zobrist's reach in shallow right. To be honest, he made bad contact on a good pitch from Shields, but sometimes that's the way things happen.
Shields threw a good game, giving up three runs on five hits; the problem is his opponent was that much better. Jimmy pounded the strike zone, forcing the Braves’ hitters to swing when they didn’t want to, and looked much improved over his last start, when he gave up 10 runs to the Florida Marlins. Shields gave his team enough of a chance to win, and when a starter gives this kind of performance, it’s incumbent on his team to support him with some offense. He tried to add some offense of his own, in fact, as he singled in the fifth inning to become the first Rays pitcher to get a hit this season. Shields was left on base when Reid Brignac grounded out.
Neither bullpen gave up a hit after their respective starters left the game, with Grant Balfour and Joaquin Benoit holding on to give the Rays' offense a chance to come alive.
I wish I could point to a controversial call or some other fluke to explain this loss but the fact of the matter is the Rays were simply outplayed. There’s really nothing anyone can do when you go up against a quality opponent that has its business in order. The Rays lost no ground to the Yankees, who did the Rays a favor by losing to the Philadelphia Phillies, 7-1. The Boston Red Sox beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 8-5, however, to move closer toward the top of the AL East.
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