GAME THREAD: AL: KANSAS CITY (21-36) at TAMPA BAY (23-31)

AL: KANSAS CITY at TAMPA BAY

<div class="pre">AL AT TAMPA BAY - MID INNING UPDATE
PLAY: Al Reyes relieved G Glover.
SITUATION: 0 RUNS IN, NONE ON, 0 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: KANSAS CITY 2
TAMPA BAY 4 TOP, 9TH

DUE UP FOR KANSAS CITY: M Sweeney (.238, 0-FOR-3)</div>

 

AL: KANSAS CITY at TAMPA BAY

<div class="pre">AL AT TAMPA BAY - MID INNING UPDATE
PLAY: A Berroa ran for M Sweeney.
SITUATION: 0 RUNS IN, A BERROA ON FIRST, 0 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: KANSAS CITY 2
TAMPA BAY 4 TOP, 9TH

DUE UP FOR KANSAS CITY: A Gordon (.173, 0-FOR-3)</div>

 

AL: KANSAS CITY at TAMPA BAY

<div class="pre">AL FINAL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
KANSAS CITY 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 2 6 1
TAMPA BAY 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 x 4 7 0 (FINAL)

BATTERIES: KAN - GIL MECHE, JOEL PERALTA (7TH), JIMMY GOBBLE (8TH), RYAN BRAUN
(8TH) AND JOHN BUCK

TAM - JAMES SHIELDS, CASEY FOSSUM (8TH), SHAWN CAMP
(8TH), GARY GLOVER (8TH), AL REYES (9TH) AND DIONER NAVARRO

HOME RUNS: KAN - JOHN BUCK (9) OFF JAMES SHIELDS IN THE 5TH, 0 ON
JOHN BUCK (10) OFF JAMES SHIELDS IN THE 8TH, 0 ON

TAM - CARLOS PENA (12) OFF GIL MECHE IN THE 2ND, 0 ON</div>

 

Shields improves to 5-0 as Devil Rays edge Royals

<h3>TAMPA BAY 4, KANSAS CITY 2</h3>ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (Ticker) -- The Tampa Bay Devil Rays'pitching staff has been anything but perfect this season. Butthanks to another strong outing, James Shields maintained hisflawless personal record.

Shields pitched into the eighth inning Monday afternoon to leadthe Devil Rays to a 4-2 triumph over the Kansas City Royals inthe finale of a four-game series.

It was the fifth victory in the last eight contests for TampaBay, which salvaged a split of this four-game series.

The Devil Rays entered Monday's game with a team ERA of 5.46 -the worst mark in the majors. But that stigma certainly doesnot apply to Shields (5-0), who yielded two runs and four hitsin 7 1/3 innings. The 25-year-old righthander walked one andstruck out five.

After battling consistency issues throughout his 2006 rookiecampaign, Shields leads the Devil Rays in wins, ERA (3.08),innings (90 2/3) and strikeouts (74).

Shields retired the first 11 batters he faced and carried ashutout into the fifth inning before yielding a two-out solohomer to John Buck, who blasted the righthander's first offeringinto the bleachers in left field to draw Kansas City within3-1.

The Royals struck again in the eighth, when Buck led off theframe by crushing his second homer of the contest. It was the10th homer this season for Buck, who recorded his third careermulti-homer game.

Shields retired Shane Costa on a flyout but was lifted afteryielding a single to Tony Pena Jr. David DeJesus followed witha hit for Kansas City, but Tampa Bay righthanders Shawn Camp andGary Glover retired the next two batters to preserve the 3-2lead and protect Shields' win.

Al Reyes worked around a leadoff hit and a one-out walk in theninth to record his 14th save.

The Devil Rays took the lead for good in the second inning, whenCarlos Pena led off with a long homer against Royals ace GilMeche (3-5). It was the team-leading 12th homer this season forPena, who lined Meche's first offering over the wall in rightfield to make it 1-0.

Rookie Elijah Dukes lofted a sacrifice fly in the second todouble the advantage, and Ty Wigginton plated Pena with an RBIdouble in the third to push the lead to 3-0.

Tampa Bay added an insurance run in unconventional fashion inthe eighth against lefthander Jimmy Gobble, who yielded atwo-out triple to Carl Crawford before intentionally walkingGreg Norton.

That set the stage for Pena, who lifted a towering infield popfly which should have been the third out of the frame. KansasCity rookie first baseman Alex Gordon - who normally plays thirdbase - misjudged the popup, however, and the ball fell to theground without being touched.

Crawford scored easily, Norton advanced to third and Pena wascredited with an RBI double on the play.

Despite pitching effectively, Meche lost his fourth consecutivestart, allowing three runs - two earned - and four hits in sixinnings. The righthander walked one and struck out three butremained winless in his last six outings.

 

AL: KANSAS CITY at TAMPA BAY

<div class="pre">AL FINAL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
KANSAS CITY 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 2 6 1
TAMPA BAY 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 x 4 7 0 (FINAL)

BATTERIES: KAN - GIL MECHE, JOEL PERALTA (7TH), JIMMY GOBBLE (8TH), RYAN BRAUN
(8TH) AND JOHN BUCK

TAM - JAMES SHIELDS, CASEY FOSSUM (8TH), SHAWN CAMP
(8TH), GARY GLOVER (8TH), AL REYES (9TH) AND DIONER NAVARRO


WP - JAMES SHIELDS (5-0)
LP - GIL MECHE (3-5)
SAVE - AL REYES (14)

HOME RUNS: KAN - JOHN BUCK (9) OFF JAMES SHIELDS IN THE 5TH, 0 ON
JOHN BUCK (10) OFF JAMES SHIELDS IN THE 8TH, 0 ON

TAM - CARLOS PENA (12) OFF GIL MECHE IN THE 2ND, 0 ON


TIME: 2:48 ATT: 9,435

PROBABLES: TAM - ANDY SONNANSTINE (NR)
TOR - ROY HALLADAY (5-2, 3.90)

PROBABLES: KAN - JORGE DE LA ROSA (4-5, 4.97)
CLE - C.C. SABATHIA (8-1, 3.78)</div>

 

AL: KANSAS CITY at TAMPA BAY

<div class="pre">KANSAS CITY (2) VS TAMPA BAY (4) - FINAL

KANSAS CITY ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
D DeJesus cf 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 .256
E German 2b-3b 3 0 0 0 1 0 1 .266
M Teahen rf 4 0 1 0 0 1 3 .277
M Sweeney dh 4 0 1 0 0 0 1 .243
A Berroa pr 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .091
A Gordon 3b-1b 4 0 0 0 0 1 1 .172
E Brown lf 3 0 0 0 1 2 0 .221
J Buck c 4 2 2 2 0 0 2 .288
R Shealy 1b 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 .219
a-S Costa ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .190
M Grudzielanek 2b 1 0 0 0 0 1 2 .267
T Pena Jr ss 3 0 1 0 0 1 0 .267

Totals 33 2 6 2 2 7 10

a-flied out to right for R Shealy in the 8th.

BATTING: HR - J Buck 2 (10, 5th inning off J Shields 0 on, 2 Out, 8th inning
off J Shields 0 on, 0 Out). RBI - J Buck 2 (21). 2-out RBI - J Buck. Runners
left in scoring position, 2 out - M Grudzielanek 1, M Teahen 1. Team LOB - 6.


FIELDING: E - D DeJesus (3, line drive). Outfield assists - M Teahen (C Pena
at Home).


TAMPA BAY ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
E Dukes cf 3 0 0 1 0 0 1 .208
B Upton 2b 4 0 0 0 0 1 1 .311
C Crawford lf 4 1 1 0 0 0 0 .295
G Norton dh 3 0 0 0 1 2 0 .148
C Pena 1b 3 2 3 2 1 0 0 .313
T Wigginton 3b 4 0 2 1 0 0 2 .246
D Young rf 3 0 0 0 0 1 3 .245
D Navarro c 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 .190
B Harris ss 3 0 0 0 0 0 2 .298

Totals 29 4 7 4 2 4 9

BATTING: 2B - C Pena 2 (7, G Meche, J Gobble); T Wigginton (10, G Meche). 3B -
C Crawford (7, J Gobble). HR - C Pena (12, 2nd inning off G Meche 0 on, 1 Out).
SF - E Dukes. RBI - C Pena 2 (31), E Dukes (20), T Wigginton (28). 2-out RBI -
T Wigginton, C Pena. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - T Wigginton 2, B
Harris 2, D Young 1. Team LOB - 5.


----------------------------------------------------
KANSAS CITY - 000 010 010 -- 2
TAMPA BAY - 011 100 01x -- 4
----------------------------------------------------

KANSAS CITY ip h r er bb so hr era
G Meche (L, 3-5) 6 4 3 2 1 3 1 3.00
J Peralta 1 2/3 1 0 0 0 1 0 4.17
J Gobble 0 2 1 1 1 0 0 2.61
R Braun 1/3 0 0 0 0 0 0 7.24

TAMPA BAY ip h r er bb so hr era
J Shields (W, 5-0) 7 1/3 4 2 2 1 5 2 3.08
C Fossum (H, 1) 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 7.74
S Camp (H, 9) 1/3 0 0 0 0 0 0 5.06
G Glover (H, 2) 1/3 0 0 0 0 0 0 4.91
Al Reyes (S, 14) 1 1 0 0 1 2 0 2.10

G Meche pitched to 2 batters in the 7th.
C Fossum pitched to 1 batter in the 8th.
J Gobble pitched to 3 batters in the 8th.

IBB - G Norton (by J Gobble). HBP - D Navarro (by G Meche). Pitches-strikes:
G Meche 103-68; J Peralta 15-12; J Gobble 13-5; R Braun 3-1; J Shields 101-70;
C Fossum 5-3; S Camp 4-3; G Glover 4-3; Al Reyes 18-11. Ground balls-fly balls:
G Meche 6-8; J Peralta 2-1; J Gobble 0-0; R Braun 0-1; J Shields 9-8; C Fossum
0-0; S Camp 1-0; G Glover 0-1; Al Reyes 0-1. Batters faced: G Meche 24; J
Peralta 5; J Gobble 3; R Braun 1; J Shields 27; C Fossum 1; S Camp 1; G Glover
1; Al Reyes 5.

UMPIRES: HP--Ed Rapuano. 1B--Ed Hickox. 2B--C.B. Bucknor. 3B--Joe West.

T--2:48. Att--9,435.
Weather: INDOORS</div>

 

AL: KANSAS CITY at TAMPA BAY

<div class="pre">** CONFIRMED **
AL
KANSAS CITY 2
TAMPA BAY 4 FINAL</div>

 

AL: KANSAS CITY at TAMPA BAY

<div class="pre">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
KANSAS CITY (2) AT TAMPA BAY (4) - HOW THEY SCORED
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

TAMPA BAY 2ND: G Norton struck out looking. C Pena homered to right
center. T Wigginton grounded out to shortstop. D Young grounded out to
shortstop. (1 Run, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 0, TAMPA BAY 1.

TAMPA BAY 3RD: D Navarro hit by pitch. B Harris safe at first on error by
center fielder D DeJesus, D Navarro to third. E Dukes hit sacrifice fly to
left, D Navarro scored. B Upton struck out swinging, B Harris out on batter's
interference. (1 Run, 0 Hits, 1 Error) KANSAS CITY 0, TAMPA BAY 2.

TAMPA BAY 4TH: C Crawford flied out to center. G Norton grounded out to
second. C Pena doubled to deep right. T Wigginton doubled to left, C Pena
scored. D Young grounded out to third. (1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 0,
TAMPA BAY 3.

KANSAS CITY 5TH: A Gordon grounded out to first. E Brown flied out to
center. J Buck homered to left. R Shealy struck out swinging. (1 Run, 1 Hit,
0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 1, TAMPA BAY 3.

KANSAS CITY 8TH: J Buck homered to left. S Costa hit for R Shealy. S Costa
flied out to right. T Pena Jr singled to center. C Fossum relieved J Shields.
D DeJesus reached on infield single to pitcher, T Pena Jr to second. S Camp
relieved C Fossum. E German grounded into fielder's choice to second, D DeJesus
out at second, T Pena Jr to third. G Glover relieved S Camp. M Teahen flied
out to center. (1 Run, 3 Hits, 0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 2, TAMPA BAY 3.

TAMPA BAY 8TH: E German at third base. A Gordon at first base.
M Grudzielanek at second base. E Dukes grounded out to third. B Upton flied out
to left. J Gobble relieved J Peralta. C Crawford tripled to deep right.
G Norton intentionally walked. C Pena doubled to first, C Crawford scored,
G Norton to third. R Braun relieved J Gobble. T Wigginton flied out to center.
(1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 2, TAMPA BAY 4.</div>

 

AL: KANSAS CITY at TAMPA BAY

<div class="pre">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
KANSAS CITY (2) AT TAMPA BAY (4) - EVENT LOG
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kansas City Starting Lineups -- D DeJesus CF, E German 2B, M Teahen RF,
M Sweeney DH, A Gordon 3B, E Brown LF, J Buck C, R Shealy 1B, T Pena Jr SS,
G Meche RHP.

Tampa Bay Starting Lineups -- E Dukes CF, B Upton 2B, C Crawford LF, G Norton DH,
C Pena 1B, T Wigginton 3B, D Young RF, D Navarro C, B Harris SS, J Shields RHP.

Umpires -- Ed Rapuano (HP), Ed Hickox (1B), C.B. Bucknor (2B), Joe West (3B).


Gametime Weather: INDOORS.


KANSAS CITY 1ST: D DeJesus flied out to left. E German flied out to right.
M Teahen struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 0,
TAMPA BAY 0.

TAMPA BAY 1ST: E Dukes lined out to center. B Upton flied out to right.
C Crawford grounded out to pitcher. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 0,
TAMPA BAY 0.

KANSAS CITY 2ND: M Sweeney flied out to left. A Gordon flied out to
center. E Brown struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 0,
TAMPA BAY 0.

TAMPA BAY 2ND: G Norton struck out looking. C Pena homered to right
center. T Wigginton grounded out to shortstop. D Young grounded out to
shortstop. (1 Run, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 0, TAMPA BAY 1.

KANSAS CITY 3RD: J Buck grounded out to shortstop. R Shealy flied out to
right. T Pena Jr struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 0,
TAMPA BAY 1.

TAMPA BAY 3RD: D Navarro hit by pitch. B Harris safe at first on error by
center fielder D DeJesus, D Navarro to third. E Dukes hit sacrifice fly to
left, D Navarro scored. B Upton struck out swinging, B Harris out on batter's
interence. (1 Run, 0 Hits, 1 Error) KANSAS CITY 0, TAMPA BAY 2.

KANSAS CITY 4TH: D DeJesus grounded out to second. E German grounded out
to second. M Teahen singled to center. M Sweeney grounded out to third.
(0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 0, TAMPA BAY 2.

TAMPA BAY 4TH: C Crawford flied out to center. G Norton grounded out to
second. C Pena doubled to deep right. T Wigginton doubled to left, C Pena
scored. D Young grounded out to third. (1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 0,
TAMPA BAY 3.

KANSAS CITY 5TH: A Gordon grounded out to first. E Brown flied out to
center. J Buck homered to left. R Shealy struck out swinging. (1 Run, 1 Hit,
0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 1, TAMPA BAY 3.

TAMPA BAY 5TH: D Navarro flied out to right. B Harris flied out to right.
E Dukes flied out to left. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 1, TAMPA BAY 3.

KANSAS CITY 6TH: T Pena Jr out at first on runner's interference. D DeJesus
grounded out to first. E German walked. M Teahen grounded out to first. (0 Runs,
0 Hits, 0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 1, TAMPA BAY 3.

TAMPA BAY 6TH: B Upton flied out to left. C Crawford grounded out to
first. G Norton struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 1,
TAMPA BAY 3.

KANSAS CITY 7TH: M Sweeney fouled out to first. A Gordon grounded out to
pitcher. E Brown struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 1,
TAMPA BAY 3.

TAMPA BAY 7TH: C Pena walked. T Wigginton singled to left, C Pena to
second. J Peralta relieved G Meche. D Young struck out swinging. D Navarro
singled to right, C Pena thrown out at home, T Wigginton to third, D Navarro to
second advancing on throw. B Harris grounded out to third. (0 Runs, 2 Hits,
0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 1, TAMPA BAY 3.

KANSAS CITY 8TH: J Buck homered to left. S Costa hit for R Shealy. S Costa
flied out to right. T Pena Jr singled to center. C Fossum relieved J Shields.
D DeJesus reached on infield single to pitcher, T Pena Jr to second. S Camp
relieved C Fossum. E German grounded into fielder's choice to second, D DeJesus
out at second, T Pena Jr to third. G Glover relieved S Camp. M Teahen flied
out to center. (1 Run, 3 Hits, 0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 2, TAMPA BAY 3.

TAMPA BAY 8TH: E German at third base. A Gordon at first base.
M Grudzielanek at second base. E Dukes grounded out to third. B Upton flied out
to left. J Gobble relieved J Peralta. C Crawford tripled to deep right.
G Norton intentionally walked. C Pena doubled to first, C Crawford scored,
G Norton to third. R Braun relieved J Gobble. T Wigginton flied out to center.
(1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 2, TAMPA BAY 4.

KANSAS CITY 9TH: Al Reyes relieved G Glover. M Sweeney singled to left.
A Berroa ran for M Sweeney. A Gordon struck out swinging. E Brown walked,
A Berroa to second. J Buck popped out to second. M Grudzielanek struck out
swinging. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 2, TAMPA BAY 4.</div>

 

Shields improves to 5-0 as Devil Rays edge Royals

<h3>TAMPA BAY 4, KANSAS CITY 2</h3>ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (Ticker) -- The Tampa Bay Devil Rays'pitching staff has been anything but perfect this season. Butthanks to another strong outing, James Shields maintained hisflawless personal record.

Shields pitched into the eighth inning Monday afternoon to leadthe Devil Rays to a 4-2 triumph over the Kansas City Royals inthe finale of a four-game series.

It was the fifth victory in the last eight contests for TampaBay, which salvaged a split of this four-game series.

The Devil Rays entered Monday's game with a team ERA of 5.46 -the worst mark in the majors. But that stigma certainly doesnot apply to Shields (5-0), who yielded two runs and four hitsin 7 1/3 innings. The 25-year-old righthander walked one andstruck out five.

After battling consistency issues throughout his 2006 rookiecampaign, Shields leads the Devil Rays in wins, ERA (3.08),innings (90 2/3) and strikeouts (74).

Shields was just two outs shy of his second straight completegame. The righthander allowed three runs and seven hits in a 5-3win over Detroit on Wednesday.

"When you have consecutive games like that it makes you morecomfortable," Shields said. "When you keep this team in theballgame we're going to fight back.

"Today I threw a lot more curveballs. Last year I would haveprobably not. I learned a lot last year and I've takeneverything I learned last year into this year."

Shields retired the first 11 batters he faced and carried ashutout into the fifth inning before yielding a two-out solohomer to Buck, who blasted the righthander's first offering intothe bleachers in left field to draw Kansas City within 3-1.

The Royals struck again in the eighth, when Buck led off theframe by crushing his second homer of the contest. It was the10th homer this season for Buck, who recorded his third careermulti-homer game.

"You know, I made two mistakes today, and both of them were tohim," Shields said. "I was trying to go outside with both of<div class="pre">them it just ran right back over the plate."</div>

Shields retired Shane Costa on a flyout but was lifted afteryielding a single to Tony Pena Jr. David DeJesus followed witha hit for Kansas City, but Tampa Bay righthanders Shawn Camp andGary Glover retired the next two batters to preserve the 3-2lead and protect Shields' win.

"I felt it was the right time to do it," Tampa Bay manager JoeMaddon said. "With Casey out there it makes the decision alittle bit easier. 101 pitches I saw a difference. I thoughtit was the right time to go get him there. He just reallypitched a great game today again."

Al Reyes worked around a leadoff hit and a one-out walk in theninth to record his 14th save.

The Devil Rays took the lead for good in the second inning, whenCarlos Pena led off with a long homer against Royals ace GilMeche (3-5). It was the team-leading 12th homer this season forPena, who lined Meche's first offering over the wall in rightfield to make it 1-0.

Rookie Elijah Dukes lofted a sacrifice fly in the second todouble the advantage, and Ty Wigginton plated Pena with an RBIdouble in the third to push the lead to 3-0.

Tampa Bay added an insurance run in unconventional fashion inthe eighth against lefthander Jimmy Gobble, who yielded atwo-out triple to Carl Crawford before intentionally walkingGreg Norton.

That set the stage for Pena, who lifted a towering infield popfly which should have been the third out of the frame. KansasCity rookie first baseman Alex Gordon - who normally plays thirdbase - misjudged the pop up, however, and the ball fell to theground without being touched.

"You don't have to hit the ball forward, you can hit it up,"Pena said. "When I came on the visiting side I always thoughtthis was a great place to hit. I enjoy being home. I'mincredibly blessed. I realize that. Just to be here and to beable to contribute."

Crawford scored easily, Norton advanced to third and Pena wascredited with an RBI double on the play.

Despite pitching effectively, Meche lost his fourth consecutivestart, allowing three runs - two earned - and four hits in sixinnings. The righthander walked one and struck out three butremained winless in his last six outings.

"It was a quality start that's my goal every time out," Mechesaid. "I know it's not fun to lose, I am pleased with the way Ipitched."

"We had a couple of chances late," Kansas City manager BuddyBell said. "He (Meche) was good enough to keep us in the gameThe ball in the eighth hit a wire I think."