“Big Game James” Shields lived up to his moniker Sunday afternoon, throwing seven and a third scoreless innings to preserve the Tampa Bay Rays’ early 3-0 lead in the final outing of a three-game set against the visiting New York Yankees. He allowed four hits and one walk while striking out 11 batters and improving to 10-9 on the year in an important game that gave Tampa Bay not only the win in the weekend series but also an edge in the season series; the Rays pulled to within a game of the American League East-leading Yankees.

“I think Shields pitched his best game of the year,” Carl Crawford told Todd Kalas after the game.

“That was the best I’ve ever seen Shields,” said Rays skipper Joe Maddon.

Jimmy, who needs to keep the beard, had great success by mixing up his pitches, throwing well-located fastballs while mixing in some curveballs and his put-out change up.

“That was definitely one of my better games, there’s no doubt about it,” Shields told the press after the game. “If we can stay consistent from here on out, things are looking good.”

This article appears in Jul 29 – Aug 4, 2010.