Shields bids good riddance to NL

Chance to hit can't compensate for the pitcher's second straight subpar and abbreviated start.

By MARC TOPKIN
Published June 21, 2007

ADVERTISEMENT [AP photo] Rays pitcher Jamie Shields walks back to the mound after giving up his second three-run home run of the game to Arizona Diamondbacks' Eric Byrnes in the fourth inning Wednesday.

PHOENIX - Before the Devil Rays left St. Petersburg last week, James Shields couldn't have been more excited about getting to start the first and last game of the interleague road trip since he'd have two more chances to hit.

But after the previously unbeaten right-hander lost his second straight Wednesday 7-4 to the Diamondbacks, and - in the flip side of National League ball - had his outing cut short because he was pinch-hit for, Shields can't wait to get back to good old American League rules.

"I'm over it, " Shields said. "When you're going seven-eight innings an outing and you get pulled with 80 pitches two times in a row, it's tough."

Shields, who had worked seven or more innings for 10 straight starts, said he felt he could have worked more Wednesday despite allowing 10 hits and admitting to an uncharacteristic lack of command.

"My ball was all over the place; I wasn't consistent throwing strikes, " he said. "I just wasn't making my pitches. My fastball wasn't there, my velocity wasn't there, my cutter wasn't as sharp as normal, I didn't use my curveball."

What hurt was that two of the hits were three-run home runs, and when Shields' turn in the batting order came up in the sixth, the Rays 31-39 were rallying and manager Joe Maddon wanted to take a shot at closing the gap.

"I didn't think they were hitting the ball that hard, " Shields said. "They were getting the balls through the holes. I felt I minimized my damage the best I could besides those two pitches.

"He made the choice to take me out. ... I think I could have gone two more innings, but these are National League rules."

Shields (6-2, 3.64) was frustrated Friday in Colorado, when he got pinch-hit for with the Rays trailing 5-2 after six, and Maddon knew it. Plus, with the bullpen severely shorthanded (no Al Reyes, Gary Glover or Jay Witasick) after Tuesday's demoralizing marathon loss, in which five relievers threw 103 pitches, Maddon was looking for Shields, the unauthorized ace, to pick the team up and go the full nine.

But Maddon had other concerns, specifically how good Arizona's bullpen was. So when the Rays cut the margin to 6-2 in the sixth on Carlos Pena's team-high 17th homer and had Raul Casanova on third with two outs, Maddon decided they had to take their shot against tiring Micah Owings. The rookie right-hander had baffled the Rays in the early innings with a short-arm motion and a fastball that clocked 90-92 mph but hitters said looked 96-97.

Carl Crawford, getting a rare day almost off, pinch-hit for Shields and beat out an infield single, and Akinori Iwamura followed with another triple to make it 6-4, but the Rays got no closer.

"If they had a different kind of bullpen, I might have thought differently, " Maddon said. "I thought we had to jump it as quickly as we could."

Shields got his hit, something of a bloop single in the fifth, and scored the Rays' first run, but that hardly proved to be any consolation. "I don't care about my hitting, " said Shields, who has a .285 (4-for-14) career average. "I won't talk about it."

Said Maddon: "He's getting a little but shortchanged and I'm sure he's ready to get back. Even though he enjoys hitting, I think he prefers the American League game right now."

Marc Topkin can be reached at topkin@sptimes.com or (727) 893-8801. View his blog at blogs.tampabay.com/rays.

[Last modified June 21, 2007, 00:51:29]