Tampa Bay Rays strong after James Shields falls against Texas Rangers – MLB Update
After overcoming countless obstacles to qualify for the post-season, the Tampa Bay Rays did what not many would have expected in their opening game against the Texas Rangers. The momentum picked up from the historic win against the New York Yankees in the
season-ending game followed by a forceful entry of Matt Moore on the big stage.
Moore’s second start in the Majors was something many people dream of. Marching on to the mound against the Rangers with just one game to back him, Moore needed to produce something special to prove his ability and competence against the best on the circuit.
Under intense scrutiny, Moore astonished the Rangers with seven scoreless innings to win his second game in as many chances.
With the platform ripe for James Shields to bag the Rays’ second win of the series, the franchise’s all-time leader in wins made little use of his abilities, allowing the Rangers to convert a three-run deficit into a two-run lead and eventually see his team
go down by a similar margin.
Having pitched 11 complete games this season, Shields could have easily scraped through the opposition line-up, but the All-Star pitcher lost focus and hurled wild pitches to see the advantage deteriorate.
However, this defeat did not hurt the confidence of the dugout and the players remained resolute of achieving what they had aimed for. Evan Longoria emphasised that going home with a 2-0 lead would have helped the Rays immensely but even then, with series
level at one-each and having already conquered Rangers’ ace C.J. Wilson, the advantage remains with Tampa.
Wilson was unglued for eight runs in game one of the ALDS but expressed happiness after the Rangers defeated Shields. Wilson articulated that Moore pitched well because he is a rookie and does not have much on his mind. However, he felt that if he had lost
to Shields, the context would have been different altogether.
Rays will now resume the series at home with David Price up against Colby Lewis in game three and Jeremy Hellickson scheduled to start against Matt Harrison in game four. With Rays needing just one more win to take this series to the wire, chances of them
crashing out in the first stage are on the lower side.
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