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Shields blanks Red Sox as Rays finish sweep

Apr 27, 2008 - 9:27 PM ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (Ticker) -- There's a new beast in the American League East - the Tampa Bay Rays.

James Shields threw a two-hit shutout Sunday as the Rays completed a three-game sweep of the Boston Red Sox with a 3-0 victory.

Off to its best start in franchise history, Tampa Bay (14-11) pulled into a three-way tie with Boston and the Baltimore Orioles for first place in the AL East.

"We're going to compete in this league," Shields said. "We're going to hang with the Red Sox and Yankees."

Rookie Evan Longoria hit a home run, as the Rays extended their season-long winning streak to six games and handed Boston its fifth consecutive loss.

"It's very early, but this is a great feeling," Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon said. "We have to prove to ourselves we can do this.

"It's big for us. It's not just winning, but how we won it. It's a confidence builder."

Shields (3-1) tossed his third complete game and first career shutout against the Red Sox, who scored only one run in the last 23 innings at Tampa Bay.

"I definitely had my good stuff," Shields said. "I got some great defense behind me and we had a couple of clutch hits."

The righthander struck out seven and walked one, as Boston only had one runner reach second base.

"I can't say enough - that was an outstanding performance," Maddon said.

The Red Sox wasted a brilliant day from Josh Beckett (2-2), who struck out a career-high 13 and walked one. Beckett fanned the Rays' first five batters and had eight strikeouts through three innings.

"I felt great, I'm obviously not happy with the results," Beckett said. "Shields deserves a lot of credit. It's not the last time he will out-pitch someone."

"We really didn't have an answer for (Beckett) the first couple of innings," Longoria said.

Beckett allowed only four hits, but his third-inning error led to the Rays' first run. With Jason Bartlett on first, Beckett's pickoff throw sailed past first baseman Kevin Youkilis down the right-field line. Right fielder J.D. Drew's throw missed the cut-off man, allowing Bartlett to score.

"I thought Beckett was tremendous," Boston manager Terry Francona said. "Most nights he throws a game like that and we're feeling pretty good right now. We just couldn't get anything going offensively."

"I was watching Beckett - he was lights out," Shields said. "He probably had his best stuff too."

After Longoria's home run gave Tampa Bay a 2-0 cushion in the seventh, Carl Crawford added an RBI double in the eighth off Manny Delcarmen to cap the scoring.

In the fifth, Manny Ramirez led off with a walk and stole second. But Shields retired Youkilis, Coco Crisp and Jason Varitek, stranding the only Red Sox runner to reach scoring position.