Shields fans 13 in three-hit shutout of Marlins

JustinVerlander35 · May 22, 2011

By the ninth inning of Sunday's Rays-Marlins contest, the only remaining drama focused on whether James Shields would pitch a complete game.

Alas, Shields prevailed, allowing Tampa Bay to dodge a sweep at the hands of its Florida state rival with a 4-0 win in front of 15,432 at Sun Life Stadium.

The Rays snapped a three-game skid and moved to 2-3 on the current road trip, which will conclude with a three-game set in Detroit beginning Monday night.

Shields started the ninth by retiring Chris Coghlan on a groundout and striking out Hanley Ramirez. But when he walked Logan Morrison after being ahead in the count 0-2, most figured the hook was coming -- even Shields, who slapped the mound with his glove in disgust. At that point, all eyes focused on Joe Maddon, who could easily have justified pointing to his right arm to wave in closer Kyle Farnsworth.

Instead, the Rays manager let Shields finish what he started. And he did so by striking out Gaby Sanchez, who went down swinging at the righty' 126th pitch of the game.

"That was really stretching it there, but part of my rationale was two things," Maddon said. "He only averaged like 100 pitches over his last three starts, so he had cache left. The other thing, he was never tested or pushed in that game. The only thing that pushed him up until that moment was the heat."

Clearly Shields appreciated Maddon's decision.

"I think I put a little stress on Joe right there by walking that guy," Shields said. "It's just kind of one of those things. He let me go out there. ... I wanted to finish it real bad. Any time you're in the ninth inning, you want to finish it every time. I wanted to finish it bad. I was glad he left me out there."

Not only did the strikeout give Shields his third complete game of the season -- and second shutout -- it also established a new career high for him with 13 strikeouts. That tied the righty with Scott Kazmir for the most K's in a game by a Rays pitcher.
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Source- http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2011_05_22_tbamlb_flomlb_1&mode=recap_away&c_id=tb

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Shields fans 13 in three-hit shutout of Marlins

JustinVerlander35 Bringin' the Heat

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Shields fans 13 in three-hit shutout of Marlins

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