James Shields found himself in the unfamiliar position of a large lead. Not familiar with such a sensation, Shields promptly gave a few runs back and ended with 31 batters faced, allowed 10 hits, two home runs, one walk, and six strikeouts. He gave up 9 grounders, 7 fly balls, and 8 line drives. Not Shields' best start on the year, that's for sure. Thankfully, Jarrod Washburn - an exponentially worse starter - was on the mound for Detroit. You won't find a better case of ERA lying to you with a smile than Washburn: 3.23 ERA, 4.35 FIP, 4.90 tRA. He's not what Detroit thought he was, and boy, he was really, really bad today.
The righty heavy lineup paid immediate dividends as Bartlett singled, Kapler walked, Zobrist doubled, Burrell doubled, Longoria doubled, and then the first lefty popped a homer. Just like that, Rays led 6-0. At one point the Rays would lead 11-3, and eventually win 11-7, but good grief did the ninth represent a trying effort.
In other news, the Rays will call Jeff Bennett, Andy Sonnanstine, Shawn Riggans, and Fernando Perez up tomorrow meaning we've survived the two LOOGY onslaught for about an entire month. Woo.