Rays Complete Sweep Of Red Sox, Make Wild Card Race Interesting
James Shields pitched into the ninth inning and B.J. Upton went 4-for-4 with a grand slam as Tampa Bay completed a three-game sweep of Boston with a 9-1 decision at Tropicana Field.
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James Shields pitched into the ninth inning and B.J. Upton went 4-for-4 with a grand slam as Tampa Bay completed a three-game sweep of Boston with a 9-1 decision at Tropicana Field.
Ben Zobrist and Sean Rodriguez each drove in two runs for the Rays, who have won four straight and seven of eight.
Shields (15-10) posted his fourth victory in a row, scattering seven hits and fanning five with three walks over 8-1/3 innings.
"It's one game at a time, absolutely, but at this time of year, with the circumstances and what we're playing for right now, we needed to do what we just did," said Rays manager Joe Maddon. "Confidence should be derived from that, it was a message sent."
Marco Scutaro's homer was the lone offense for the Red Sox, who skidded to their fifth straight loss and seventh in eight.
Jon Lester (15-7) lasted just four frames, charged with eight hits and four runs to suffer his first loss in a month.
Boston's lead in the wild-card race over Tampa Bay shrunk to 3-1/2 games.
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