Boston’s winning streak was stopped at nine games thanks to a dominant performance by James Shields, who hurled a complete game shutout against the Red Sox Tuesday en route to a 4-0 Tampa Bay win.
While the Red Sox were able to threaten early with Jacoby Ellsbury and Adrian Gonzalez both reaching base in the first and third innings, Shields would escape thanks to some poor hitting from Kevin Youkilis, who went 0-for-4 and grounded into two double plays on the night.
The Sox would very much regret coming up empty in those opportunities as the game progressed and Shields settled in. Utilizing a nigh-unhittable changeup, Shields retired all but two of the last 19 batters he faced with the help of some solid defense.
Tim Wakefield, meanwhile, gave up the only run the Rays would need in the fifth, when Justin Ruggiano planted one over the wall in left field to put the Rays on the board. It was just one of a great many hard hit balls off of Wakefield, but it was also the only one that actually left the park. With another run coming around on a passed ball from Jarrod Saltalamacchia in the seventh, Wakefield would finish the night allowing two runs—one earned—in seven innings. It was not his best night, but he produced results all-the-same.
Tommy Hottovy would run into trouble, allowing two runs in a wild appearance out of the bullpen, but with the Sox’ offense unable to mount any sort of rally, it would make little difference.