News
Shields puts negativity behind him
Tampa Bay (20-20) vs. Oakland (13-22), 7:08 p.m. ET
By Bill Chastain / MLB.com
05/19/09 1:07 AM ET
ST. PETERSBURG -- James Shields took the honest approach after his last start ended in frustration: He admitted he let his emotions get the best of him. During Shields' most recent outing against the Indians on Thursday, there were two outs in the fifth when second baseman Akinori Iwamura missed an easy ground ball that would have been the third out of the inning. Shields then allowed the Indians to push three unearned runs across the plate to take a 5-0 lead, which eventually turned into a Rays loss. "I loved the honesty, period," Rays manager Joe Maddon said. Shields has had a couple of days to let his last start sink in, which allowed him to remember back in the day when he had to fight his emotions on more of a regular basis. "When I first got called up, I was a younger kid with a lot of emotion," Shields said. "I had to keep that in check, but it's one of those things where I haven't done that in a while. I have thought about it. It's something that's not a big issue at all. I'm going to go out there the next game and do what I do." What Shields does best is use his bulldog approach to put innings in the rearview mirror. "I'm going to go out there and do my job every fifth day, and that's to go out there and go as deep as I can in the game," Shields said. "And hopefully give my team a chance to win. Regardless of what we've done in the past, we're going to build on what we've done the last couple of games." Shields feels as though he's where he needs to be entering his ninth start of the season. "The results in wins and losses aren't very good right now, but I've been pitching well," Shields said. "And I think my stuff's getting better and better every single game, so it's one thing I can build off. It's a good positive thing." The Rays moved to .500 with their win over the A's Monday night. Shields now believes the team is beginning to find its way and hopes to be the one to pitch the team over the break-even point. "We're starting to play as a team now," Shields said. "I think our bullpen has done a great job the last couple of games, holding them to the runs we've already given up and allowing our hitters to come back and get the wins. I think we're really starting to pull it together, and we're going to string together some wins here pretty soon." Pitching matchupTB: RHP James Shields (3-4, 3.98 ERA)
Shields has earned his reputation as a pitcher who will do whatever is necessary to pitch his team into the seventh or eighth innings, which is evidenced by two consecutive seasons with 215 innings pitched. The right-hander is 3-1 with a 4.61 ERA in six career starts against Oakland. OAK: LHP Josh Outman (1-0, 4.05 ERA)
Outman had his best outing this season last Wednesday, allowing three hits and one run in six innings to help the A's take both games of a two-game set against the Royals. He retired the side in order four times. The southpaw said afterward throwing strikes and attacking hitters helped him pitch into the sixth inning for just the second time in five starts. He also picked up his first win this season. Outman will make his first career start against the Rays and at Tropicana Field. His only other career start indoors came this season, when he allowed five runs in four innings at Toronto. Tidbits
Michel Hernandez started for the second straight game at catcher, because everyday catcher Dioner Navarro is suffering from pink eye. ... The Rays have scored at least three runs in 21 straight games, the longest such streak by any team in the American League this season. ... The Rays scored 13 runs without hitting a home run; only once in club history has Tampa Bay scored more runs without a home run, on May 3, 1999, in a 14-6 victory over the Tigers. Tickets
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• Wednesday: Rays (Scott Kazmir, 4-3, 6.97) vs. Athletics (Brett Anderson, 0-4, 6.03), 7:08 p.m. ET
• Thursday: Rays (Matt Garza, 4-2, 3.50) vs. Athletics (Dallas Braden, 3-5, 3.64), 4:08 p.m. ET
• Friday: Rays (Andy Sonnanstine, 2-4, 7.36) at Marlins (Ricky Nolasco, 2-4, 7.78), 7:10 p.m. ET
Bill Chastain is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
