Knuckle Curve » james shields

Tampa Bay Rays Lose 11th Straight

Stephen Kersey — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 03:51:53 +0000

This time last year, the Tampa Bay Rays were in the middle of a miraculous run that landed on top of the AL West and eventually sent the Rays to the World Series. This year isn’t quite as fun.

On Sunday, the Rays saw their losing streak extend to 11 games when the Boston Red Sox won by a final count of 4-0. The Rays are no only 72-71 and they are already looking forward to next season.

In their latest loss, Jon Lester dominated. The Red Sox starting pitcher threw eight innings in which he only gave up two hits while striking out seven.

James Shields, who started the game for the Rays, isn’t impressed with the losing streak.

Said Shields: “It’s embarrassing. Eleven straight losses. Not fun at all. Whether we’re in the race or not, we’ve got to play better baseball.”

As for the Red Sox, the win pushed them four games ahead of the Texas Rangers in the AL Wild Card race.

Evan Longoria and the Rays aren't happy these days (Image: Zuma Press)

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Evan Longoria Hits Two Homers in Postseason Debut

Stephen Kersey — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 05:27:48 +0000

Evan Longoria of the Tampa Bay Rays is known as a big-time baseball talent (and that guy whose name sounds like he may be Eva’s twin brother). In the first game of his postseason life, Longoria hit two homers to lead the Rays to a 6-4 victory over the Chicago White Sox.

Longoria finished the game 3-for-3 with a walk, two runs, three RBIs and those two home runs. His homers came in the second and third inning against White Sox pitcher Javier Vazquez.

The pitching star for the Rays, who are in the playoffs for the first time in franchise history, was James Shields. In 6.1 innings, Shields gave up three earned runs and four strikeouts.

The Rays will look to take a 2-0 lead in the series in Game 2 on Friday at 6PM EST. Pitching for the Rays will be Scott Kazmir, while Mark Buehrle for the White Sox.

Here is an Evan Longoria video interview following his Game 1 heroics on Thursday:

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Red Sox and Rays Brawl – Shields vs. Crisp Video

Stephen Kersey — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 03:33:32 +0000

Check out this video of of the Boston Red Sox and the Tampa Bay Rays brawl. James Shields hit Coco Crisp with a pitch and after a brief hesitation, Crisp charged the mound. After dodging a viscous punch from Shields, Crisp hot in a couple punches of his own. Crisp was then tackled by a couple of Rays before the scuffle was eventually broken up.

The story behind this brawl actually goes back a day. The Rays were mad at Crisp for a slide the previous day and fireworks were expected at some point in the game. However, no one really expected the fireworks to come in the first inning. Shields and Crisp were ejected from the game.

Here is the Red Sox and Rays fight video:

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