For the second time in as many evenings, Tampa Bay Rays fans witnessed an impressive win based on masterful starting pitching.
In the case of Tuesday night’s 2-1 triumph over the Chicago White Sox, it wasn’t just limited to starting pitching; James Shields took the hill and served as his own closer, pitching his first complete game since June 10, 2008.
The Rays got to Chicago starter John Danks early; Ben Zobrist picked up a one-out triple in the home half of the first inning. Sean Rodriguez took a pitch from Danks on the hip for a free pass, giving Tampa Bay runners on the corners. Felipe Lopez grounded into a 4-3 force at first but Zobrist was able to score on the play for the early 1-0 lead.
Juan Pierre of the White Sox must be getting awful tired of those highlight-reel catches in right field coming at the expense of his batting average. With Alexei Ramirez aboard with a walk, Matt Joyce made a do-or-dive in the top of the third to rob Chicago’s left fielder of an easy base hit and perhaps save a run.
“The defense has been great and we have to be that team,” Rays manager Joe Maddon said. “We have to play that kind of defense consistently.”
After the first inning, this one stayed quiet until the fifth. Carlos Quentin led off with a double for Chicago, giving the White Sox their first legitimate scoring threat of the series. The pesky A.J. Pierzynksi wasn’t about to let that go; his one-out base hit scored Quentin to tie it up.
Tampa Bay had an answer for that one, though, with Zobrist and Rodriguez factoring in again.
This article appears in May 19-25, 2011.