Rays Shields from Philly Sweep

The World Series resumes in Philadelphia tonight, and thanks to James Shields and the Rays pen, the series is all even at a game apiece after Tampa's 4-2 win. Shields picked up the win in great part because of the Phillies failure to produce with runners in scoring position.

The Phillies had runners on first and second with no one out in the second inning, a lead off man on second in the third, men on the corners with one out in both the fourth and fifth innings, and two on with two outs in both the six and seventh innings. And they left them all on base. The Phillies are now 1-28 with runners in scoring position in the series.

Tampa got a quick jump on Brett Myers in the first inning, taking advantage of Jayson's Werth's error. Aki Iwamura led the game off with a walk and B.J. Upton shook off his game 1 woes with a single to right field. Werth then misplayed the ball allowing both runners to move up a spot. Carlos Pena and Evan Longoria brought both runners home with a pair of RBI ground outs.

Upton came through again in the second with a bases loaded single to increase the Rays lead to 3-0. Werth tried to make up for his error by throwing out Rocco Baldelli at home plate to end the inning. The Rays added another big insurance run in the fourth when Jason Bartlett squeezed home Cliff Floyd.

The rest of the game was about the Phillies failures. They finally got on the board in eighth inning on Eric Bruntlett's home run and made the game interesting in the ninth against David Price. The prized rookie has been shown a lot of confidence by manager Joe Maddon, who brought him in the game in the seventh inning. He walked the first batter he faced, but then struck out Ryan Howard to strand two runners. In the ninth he faced the tying run after an Evan Longoria error allowed a run to score and cut the lead in half. But Price struck out Chase Utley and retired Howard on a game ending ground out.

News and Notes

Game 3 this evening matches up veteran Jamie Moyer against the playoffs hottest pitcher, Matt Garza.

Chase Utley and Ryan Howard are a combined 4-17 through the first two games and Jimmy Rollins is hitless.

There is a possibility that tonight's game could be rained out.

Big League Stew's David Brown discusses the merits and dislikes of the Buck-McCarver duo.

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Calling on the Ghost of the Bambino to Smote the Red Sox

Seriously, can we get a little help here? The Rays were seven outs away on Thursday night of reaching their first World Series. We already had the Red Sox obituary 90% written when Boston came back from a 7-0 deficit to force a game 5.

Then it was Josh Beckett last night, fighting off a strained oblique, to hold the Rays to two runs on four hits in five innings. Let us make this clear- we don't like Beckett, but he's gained our respect. Something his big mouthed teammate with the ketchupy sock will never get from us. Beckett says he's not hurt, but he clearly is. He doesn't have to point out to the media how much he aches and what he has to do to compensate for it or how big his bowel movement was that morning. He just goes and pitches, and he's become one of the best big game pitchers in baseball.

Another big veteran on this Sox team, which is John Sterling's words, "gutty" and "gritty", is catcher Jason Varitek. The Sox captain could very well be playing his last days in a Red Sox uniform. He's a free agent to be and wants a Jorge Posada like contract (5 years). But Varitek hasn't hit in a month of Sundays. He still calls a great game, but swings a wiffle ball bat against 95-mph fastballs. But last night Varitek reached into the past and hit a James Shields delivery into the seats in right field to put the Sox ahead for good 3-2.

A Jason Bartlett throwing error contributed to an insurance run and then the biggest difference, besides experience, between these two teams came to the forefront. The Red Sox were able to send out Hideki Okajima, Justin Masterson, and Jon Papelbon to combine for four hitless, scorelss innings to even the series up at three games apiece.

The finale is tonight at the Trop with Jon Lester facing Matt Garza. We don't have to tell you who we think will win tonight's game. Now if some spectral force could have an impact...

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Dice Rolls Lucky 7

Daisuke Matsuzaka threw a masterful seven innings to lead the Boston Red Sox to a 2-0 win over the Tampa Rays in game one of the ALCS.

Matsuzaka tossed six innings of no-hit ball before Carl Crawford led off the seventh inning with a single to right field. Trailing 1-0, Cliff Floyd followed with a single to center to put runners on the corners with no one out. But Matsuzaka retired Dioner Navarro on a fly to shallow left, struck out Gabe Gross, and hen got Jason Bartlett to bounce out to escape the jam.

Terry Francona went to the pen with a 2-0 lead in the eighth after Matsuzaka gave up back to back singles, sandwiched around a wild pitch, to Aki Iwamura and B.J. Upton to once again put runners on the corners with no one out. Lefty specialist Hideki Okajima got Carlos Pena to fly out to shallow right on a 3-0 pitch, and Justin Masterson came on to induce an inning ending double play ball from Evan Longoria.

The Red Sox took a 1-0 lead against Rays starter James Shields in the fifth inning when Jason Bay drew a lead off walk and moved to third base on Mark Kotsay's double. Jed Lowrie's sac fly brought home Bay to break the scoreless tie.

The Sox then added a big insurance run in the seventh inning. Dustin Pedroia reached on a one out single off of J.P. Howell and stole second base. David Ortiz followed with a walk, and Kevin Youkilis ripped a low liner to left that glanced off the glove of a sliding Crawford, allowing Pedroia to score. Joe Maddon sent for Grant Balfour, who immediately hit J.D. Drew to load the bases. But Balfour got out of further trouble by striking out Bay and retiring Kotsay on a fly out.

Jon Papelbon came on in the ninth inning for the Red Sox, retiring the side in order to pick up the save.

Box Score

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Around the Horn - 6/6

"I was at a boxing match last night and a hockey game broke out". An oldie, but goodie. Last night a brawl broke out at the Rays-Red Sox baseball game. Sox centerfielder Coco Crisp became a marked man after his questionableslide into 2nd Baseman Aki Iwamura (yeah the same guy Shelley Duncan spiked) the night before (Crisp said it was in retaliation for Jason Bartlett blocking the bag earlier in the game). In the 2nd inning of last night's game Rays starter James Shields drilled Crisp in the leg and made no doubt about it afterwards that it was intentional.

"I think what (Crisp) did (Wednesday) was an absolutely dirty move, bush league and not supposed to be in the professional game of baseball... He’s not a professional player. I lost all respect for him... We’ve been getting stomped around the last 10 years and that’s not going to happen any more," said Shields.

Crisp charged the mound and ducked a haymaker from Shields before landing a punch of his own and was then tackled by Rays catcher Dionner Navarro. While on the ground, Crisp was pounded at by Rays DH Jonny Gomes (yeah, him again) while Shields was buried under another pile.

The Red Sox won the game 7-1 behind Manny Ramirez's 5 RBI, but Ramirez also got into it in the dugout with teammate Kevin Youkilis. The two had to be separated in the dugout 5th inning. Boston may have a big loss though. Jacob Ellsbury rolled on his wrist while making a catch and for the moment is day-to-day.

Chipper Jones slugged his 400th career home run in the Braves 7-5 win over the Marlins. He became just the 3rd switch-hitter, along with Mickey Mantle and Eddie Murray to hit the 400 mark. And in case you haven't noticed, he's still hitting .418.

C.C. Sabathia is definitely not making the most of his pending free agency. He allowed 4 earned runs in 6 innings in the Indians 9-4 loss to the Rangers last night. Sabathia is now 3-8, 4.65 on the season.

Jose Contreras has very quitely put together a solid season. He was on the winning end of the White Sox 6-2 victory over the Royals. The Cuban native is now 6-3, 2.76 and has allowed just 7 earned runs in his last 42 innings. Jim Thome hit career home run #519.

It was a "Land of the Rising Sun" showdown in LA last night when the Cubs met the Dodgers. Tied 2-2 in the 9th, Kusoke Fukodome singled in the game winning run against Takaski Saito.

The Cardinals and Nationals split a twinbill. Todd Wellmeyer went to 7-1 in the Cardinals 4-1 win in the opener. After blowing a 6-0 lead in the nightcap, the Nationals came back from a 1-run deficit on the 10th, winning it on Elijah Dukes' 2-run walk-off home run.

Scott Schoenweis had a night against the Padres he'd like to forget. With the game tied 1-1 in the bottom of the 9th, the lefty hit Pete McAnulty to force in the winning run. Hard to pin that one on Willie Randolph.

Cole Hamels beat Homer Bailey and the Reds 5-0 in a complete game effort. Most of the post-game discussion though centered on reigning MVP Jimmy Rollins, who was pulled from the game by manager Charlie Manuel after not running out a pop up.

Garrett Olson improved to 5-1 and George Sherrill be came the majors 2nd closer with 20 saves in the Orioles 3-2 win over the Twins. Adam Jones' home run was the decisive blow.

Jason Michaels' 3-run home run propelled the Pirates over the Astros 4-3. Paul Maholm won his 3rd straight start.

In case you missed it, here's the Rays-Sox fisticuffs.

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Cy Mussina

The Yankees bats didn't show up in Tampa again tonight, but Mike Mussina did and that's a good thing these days for the Yankees and their fans. Moose won his 5th straight game, a 2-1 decision over the Rays, and the 256th of his career. Mussina was removed after walking Evan Longoria with one out in the 8th and then had to nervously watch as Ross Ohlendorf nearly frittered away the lead.

Robinson Cano continued his rise from the depths with a 4-4 night, that including following Hideki Matui's double with one of his own to give the Yankees a 1-0 lead in the 4th. The Pinstripes added a big insurance run in the 6th after Morgan Ensberg walked and Jose Molina sacrificed him to 2nd Base. James Shields struck out Johnny Damon for the 2nd out, but Bobby Abreu doubled to left for a 2-0 lead.

Mussina ran into some two out trouble in the 2nd on back-to-back singles by Cliff Floyd and Dionner Navarro, but Cabrera gunned down Floyd trying to go to 3rd for the final out. He allowed 3 hits over the next 4 innings, but only one Rays base runner reached 2nd Base. Throwing a mix of mid-80s fastballs and breaking pitches that wouldn't exceed the speed limit on the Jersey Turnpike, Mussina allowed just 5 hits in the 6.1 innings pitched. The walk to Longoria was his first of the game and got the Rays started for their only real rally of the night.

Ohlendorf allowed back-to-back singles to Floyd and Navarro and suddenly the lead was cut in half. But Gabe Gross hit a line drive right to Derek Jeter, who flipped to Cano to easily double Floyd off of 2nd Base. The Yankees then brought in the heat.

Joba Chamberlain walked Aki Iwamura with one out in the 8th, but struck out Jason Bartlett, Carl Crawford, and B.J. Upton, and made a non-fist pump exit. Mariano Rivera came on in the 9th and picked up his 11th save in as many chances with a 1-2-3 inning.

News and Notes

Aki Iwamura took the collar, ending an 11-game hitting streak.

Robinson Cano is 14-40 (.350) in May to raise his average above the Mendoza line to .205.

Former Yankees prospect Dionner Navarro is 7-9 in the series.

The win snapped the Rays franchise high 11-game home winning streak and a 6-game overall winning streak.

Joe Girardi held a closed door meeting prior to the game.

May 14, 2008

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
NY Yankees	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0		2	7	0
Tampa Bay	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0		1	7	1

NY Yankees	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Damon, LF	4	0	0	0	0	1	2	.264
Abreu, RF	4	0	1	1	0	1	1	.286
Jeter, SS	4	0	0	0	0	2	1	.297
Giambi, 1B	3	0	0	0	1	1	0	.188
Matsui, DH	4	1	1	0	0	1	1	.317
Cano, 2B	4	0	4	1	0	0	0	.205
Cabrera, CF	4	0	0	0	0	1	3	.261
Ensberg, 3B	3	1	1	0	1	0	2	.224
Gonzalez, 3B	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.290
Molina, C	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.200
Totals	31	2	7	2	2	7	10
BATTING 2B: Matsui (7, Shields), Abreu (8, Shields). TB: Abreu 2; Matsui 2; Cano 4; Ensberg. RBI: Cano (12), Abreu (24). 2-out RBI: Cano; Abreu. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Ensberg 2; Jeter; Abreu. S: Molina 2. GIDP: Matsui. Team LOB: 6. BASERUNNING CS: Cano (3, 2nd base by Miller/Navarro). FIELDING Outfield assists: Cabrera (Floyd at 3rd base). DP: 2 (Jeter-Cano, Jeter-Cano-Giambi).

NY Yankees	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Mussina (W, 6-3)	6.1	5	1	1	1	4	0	3.99
Ohlendorf (H, 2)	0.2	2	0	0	0	0	0	4.56
Chamberlain (H, 10)	1.0	0	0	0	1	3	0	2.60
Rivera (S, 11)	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0.53

Tampa Bay	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Iwamura, 2B	3	0	0	0	1	1	0	.258
Crawford, LF	4	0	0	0	0	1	1	.281
Upton, CF	4	0	0	0	0	2	1	.279
Pena, 1B	4	0	2	0	0	1	0	.218
Longoria, 3B	3	1	0	0	1	1	2	.216
Floyd, DH	4	0	2	0	0	0	0	.407
Navarro, C	3	0	2	1	0	0	0	.387
Gross, RF	3	0	1	0	0	1	2	.218
Bartlett, SS	3	0	0	0	0	1	1	.237
Totals	31	1	7	1	2	8	7
BATTING 2B: Gross (5, Mussina). TB: Pena 2; Floyd 2; Navarro 2; Gross 2. RBI: Navarro (13). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Bartlett. GIDP: Longoria. Team LOB: 5. FIELDING E: Pena (1, throw). DP: 2 (Bartlett-Pena, Navarro-Bartlett).

Tampa Bay	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Shields (L, 4-3)	7.1	6	2	2	2	6	0	3.05
Miller	1.1	1	0	0	0	1	0	4.26
Reyes	0.1	0	0	0	0	0	0	8.44

Pitches-strikes: Mussina 87-52, Ohlendorf 7-4, Chamberlain 20-13,
Rivera 9-8, Shields 102-67, Miller 16-11, Reyes 6-3.
Ground outs-fly outs: Mussina 9-5, Ohlendorf 0-1, Chamberlain 0-0,
Rivera 1-1, Shields 12-4, Miller 2-0, Reyes 0-1.
Batters faced: Mussina 23, Ohlendorf 3, Chamberlain 4, Rivera 3,
Shields 31, Miller 3, Reyes 1.
Inherited runners-scored: Ohlendorf 1-1, Miller 1-0.
Umpires: HP: Rob Drake. 1B: Dale Scott. 2B: Dan Iassogna. 3B: Ron Kulpa.
Weather: 72 degrees, dome.
Wind: Indoors.
T: 2:44.
Att: 20,936.

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Yankees vs. Rays - May 14

Elliot Ness was the leader of the untouchables. Joe Girardi mans the helm of the unwatchables. It's really difficult to sit through a Yankees game right now. They're a dull, lifeless team at the moment, and there doesn't seem to be a turning point any time soon.

Tonight Mike Mussina (5-3, 4.36) will try to make it 5 wins in a row as he goes up against outstanding young right-hander James Shields. Moose beat the Rays back on April 7 when he allowed just 2 hits over 6 innings in a 6-1 Yankees win at the Stadium. Lifetime, Mussina is 17-7, 3.46 in 30 career starts against the Rays. Of course these Rays are much better than their predecessors.

Shields (4-2, 3.14) lost to Chien-Ming Wang and the Yankees 2-0 on April 6 after allowing both runs in 5 innings. He's had a rough time against the Yankees in his brief career, going 0-5, 7.83 in 6 starts. Shields is coming off possibly his best game ever, a 1-hit complete game shutout of the Angels. That might be topped by the 2-hit complete game shutout he pitches 2 turns before that against the Red Sox.

As good as Shields is, a number of Yankees have had good success against him.

Robinson Cano .400 (6-15) 1 HR 3 RBI
Derek Jeter .389 (7-16) 1 HR 5 RBI
Hideki Matsui .600 (6-10) 3 HR 5 RBI
Melky Cabrera .333 (4-12) 1 RBI
Bobby Abreu .364 (4-11) 1 HR 4 RBI
Johnny Damon .500 (5-10) 2 HR 2 RBI
Jose Molina 2-3 2 RBI

Rays vs. Mike Mussina

Dionner Navaro .500 (5-10)
B.J. Upton .385 (5-13) 1 HR 4 RBI
Aki Iwamura 0-8
Carlos Pena .111 (2-18) 1 RBI
Cliff Floyd .261 (6-23) 2 HR 2 RBI
Gabe Gross 1-3 1 RBI
Carl Crawford .286 (14-49) 5 RBI 5 SB
Jonny Gomes .375 (3-8) 2 HR 3 RBI
Eric Hinske .129 (4-29) 1 RBI
Ben Zobrist 2-4 2 RBI
Jason Bartlett 1-4

UPDATE 4:40 PM Yankees lineup

Damon LF
Abreu RF
Jeter SS
Giambi 1B
Matsui DH
Cano 2B
Cabrera CF
Ensberg 3B
Molina C

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American League Around the Horn - 4/28

We can't think of too many people who would have predicted they would wake up on April 28 and the Tampa Rays and Baltimore Orioles would be atop the AL East. Or the Detroit Tigers would be in the AL Central basement. Or for that matter, the Oakland A's would be six games over .500 and tied with the Los Angeles for first place in the AL East.

The Rays are riding the hottest streak now. They went into Boston and took three straight and have won six in a row overall. The Red Sox were starting to roll, a six game winning streak of their own. Then they lost a pair in a row before the Rays came to town and out did them. The Rays (11-6) and Yankees (9-8) are the only teams with winning records against their AL East foes.

There were some classically pitched games in the series. The Red Sox Clay Buchholz had a 1-hitter going entering Saturday's 8th inning. Two seconds later he was losing 2-1 when Dionner Navarro singled and Aki Iwamura hit his first home run of the season. On Sunday, Josh Beckett gave up 4 hits and struck out 13 in 7 innings, and lost! James Shields threw a complete game 2-hit shutout to beat him.

The Mariners lost 2 of 3 to Oakland after doing the same with the Orioles. Felix Hernandez was dominating the A's on Sunday, but gave up 4 runs in the 8th inning to take the loss in a 4-2 game.

The Rangers were involved in another blow out, except this time they were on the winning end. Vincente Padilla blanked the Twins, who had scored 12 runs on Saturday, 10-0.

The White Sox and Orioles had a great pitcher's duel on Saturday. Sox starter John Danks had a perfect game through five innings, before Adam Jones singled and eventually scored. Guillermo Quiroz then hit his first major league home run. Orioles starter Brian Burres allowed just 3 hits in 8 innings for the win. The White Sox Carlos Quentin managed to get with the bases loaded in both games to get a pair of bruises and RBI.

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