James Shields pitches 1-hitter, Evan Longoria homers in ninth to give Rays 2-0 win over Angels
By FRED GOODALL | Associated Press | May 9, 08 9:20 PM CDT in
Sports
James Shields pitched a one-hitter and Evan Longoria's two-run, ninth-inning homer snapped a scoreless tie and gave the Tampa Bay Rays a 2-0 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Friday night.
Shields (4-2) rebounded from the second-shortest outing of his career to post his second shutout in his past three starts.
The 26-year-old right-hander limited the Angels to Brandon Wood's one-out single in the third and retired the last 17 batters he faced after hitting Erick Aybar with a pitch in the fourth.
Angels starter Jon Garland allowed no runs and four hits in eight innings. He walked three and struck out two before being replaced by Justin Speier (0-2), who gave up a leadoff single to B.J. Upton in the ninth.
Carlos Pena, who had two of Tampa Bay's hits off Garland, grounded to first base, moving Upton to second. Three pitches later, Longoria hit his fourth major league homer into the seats in left-center.
Shields, who tossed a two-hitter to beat Boston 3-0 at Tropicana Field on April 27, struck out eight and walked none. He allowed seven runs and 10 hits in a 12-4 loss to the Red Sox at Fenway Park last weekend, throwing 98 pitches in just 3 2-3 innings.
This time, he only needed 70 pitches to get through the first seven innings, limiting the Angels to two baserunners.
Garland allowed three walks and three singles over the same stretch. But only one of the runners got as far as second base, and the Angels helped their starter with a pair of double plays.
The Rays wasted their best opportunity to score off Garland in the eighth, stranding pinch runner Nathan Haynes at third base after Gabe Gross led off the inning with a double to the gap in left.
Garland escaped the jam by getting Jason Bartlett, Akinori Iwamura and Carl Crawford to ground out.
Los Angeles, already playing without injured infielders Chone Figgins, Howie Kendrick and Maicer Izturis, lost shortstop Erick Aybar when he was hit by a pitch in the left pinkie finger leading off the fourth inning.
X-rays were negative, and the Angels said Aybar is day-to-day with a bone bruise.
Notes:@ American Idol finalist Syesha Mercado, a native of nearby Sarasota, sang the national anthem. ... Figgins missed his fifth consecutive game for the Angels with a strained right hamstring. He took batting practice and did some running before the game, and manager Mike Scioscia said a decision on whether to place him on the disabled list will be made soon. ... Rays DH-OF Cliff Floyd (right knee surgery) took batting practice and could be close to returning.
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