James Shields shines as Tampa Bay Rays overpower Cleveland Indians, 7-4: MLB Update
Tampa Bay Rays’ starter, James Shields, was impressive with the ball as he threw seven dominant pitches and gave away just one walk in the Rays’ 7-4 win over the Cleveland Indians at the Progressive Field in Cleveland on May 12.
The Rays were outclassed at the start of the season, but now have advanced towards better performance since last week. Shields permitted two runs on seven hits with two earned runs. He struck out seven batters on his pitches.
Shields expressed his excitement as, “By now it's been forgotten. We're playing on all cylinders right now. I beat Cleveland, at Cleveland. I got one more on my bucket list. I don't know if I got him on that or not. The umpire called him out and that stopped
the damage right there.”
Both the teams were unable to score in the first inning. Then, the Rays added four runs in the second inning to get the lead 4-0, when Reid Brignac hit a two-run double and Evan Longoria took two RBIs single. The score-card was unmoved till the fifth inning
as the pitchers threw the ball in good line and length.
Casey Kotchman took a singled to the centre-field position by beating the fielder who dived towards the ball but was unable to stop it. On the other side, the Indians started their scoring account in the sixth inning, when Asdrubal Cabrera hit a one-run
homer and Orlando Cabrera drove a shot for two-out double. But the Rays led off with 5-2 at the end of sixth inning. The next inning remained empty for both teams.
During eighth inning, Shin-Soo Choo made a single off the left-field to lessen their trail to 5-3. The Rays extended their lead in the ninth inning when Elliot Johnson singled on contribution with Ben Zobrist, who also got off the mark by taking one-run.
They both added two valuable runs for their team in the end. While the Indians were able to score only one run which was taken by Cabrera. The score-board was 7-4 after the final inning.
Justin Masterson was expensive with the ball as he gave away five runs on eight hits including five earned runs with four walks. He struck out six batters. The Indian’s relievers were also failed to display an exemplary performance.
The Indians’ Manager Manny Acta was much disappointed with the performance of his team. Speaking to reporters, he said, “We didn't play very well. Masterson was behind in the count and struggled with his command. We didn't do enough offensively and we gave
away a couple of outs on the bases.”
The Rays’ relievers allowed two runs on three hits with two strike-outs in combined two inning pitches.
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