[highheatkingsb]

August 31st, 2008
Game: 137 of 162
Attendance: 27,014
Wind: 0 mph (dome)

(61-75) @ (61-74)

Starting Pitching Matchup

PITCHING MATCH-UP

Daniel Cabrera James Shields 11-10 W-L 8-11 3.93 ERA 3.70

Rays take series, as Shields protects Rays slight lead over O's!!!!!

Tampa Bay, FL - James Shields delivered 7 innings for the Rays tonight, giving up just 2 runs on 8 hits as the Rays overcame a 2-0 1st inning deficit to cruise to a 7-3 victory and take 2 out of 3 games against the Orioles at Tropicana Field to end the month of August. B.J. Upton crushed a 3-run home run and the Rays also got long balls from Merrill and Longoria in the 8th to pace the offense. The Orioles got the tying run to the on-deck circle in the 9th, but Troy Percival got Kevin Millar to ground into a double play to secure his 30th save of the season. Daniel Cabrera was once again ineffective, giving up 4 runs on 5 hits and walking 5 to push his record to 11-11. Nick Markakis delivered yet another base hit to extend his impressive hitting streak and pushed his RBI total to 92 on the season while Brian Roberts stole his 51st base of the year in the losing effort. The Orioles are off to Boston to open up the last month of the season and are looking to play a key factor in the race between the Red Sox and Yankees for the division crown.

Line Score

Baltimore @ Tampa Bay (August 31st, 2008)

TEAMS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Baltimore Orioles 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 11 1 Tampa Bay Rays 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 X 7 10 0 WP - J. Shields (9-11), LP - D. Cabrera (11-11), S - T. Percival (30)

Extra Base Hits & RBI Summary

2B - Mora (17), Huff (22)
3B - None
HR - None
RBI - Mora (60), Markakis (92), Scott (87)
SB - Roberts (51)

2B - None
3B - None
HR - Longoria (13), Upton (29), Merrill (4)
RBI - Pena (80), Longoria (57), Upton 3 (91), Merrill 2 (17)
SB - None

Pitching Summary



D. Cabrera (L, 11-11) 3.2 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 5 BB, 2 K's, 2 WP
J. Lewis 3.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K's
D. Sarfate 0.2 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, 1 WP
J. Walker 0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K

J. Shields (W, 9-11) 7.0 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 5 K's, 1 WP
T. Miller (H, 13) 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K
J. Woods 0.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 0 K
G. Glover 0.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K, 1 WP
T. Percival (S, 30) 0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K

Scoring Summary



Top 1st

Mora doubled to right center, Roberts scored (1-0)
Markakis singled to left, Mora scored (2-0)

Bottom 1st

Upton homered to left, Longoria and Pena scored (3-2)

Bottom 2nd

Pena grounded out to first, Jaso scored (4-2)

Bottom 8th

Merrill homered to left, Jaso scored (6-2)
Longoria homered to right (7-2)

Top 9th

Scott singled to center, Huff scored (7-3)

Player of the Game

The Rays got a great pitching performance from James
Shields tonight to finish off the series with a 7-3 victory
and stay above the O's in the race for the AL East cellar.
James went 7.0 IP, allowed just 2 runs on 8 hits and struck
out 5 batters.

Standings

American League East
Team		W	L	GB	STRK
	New York	89	48	-	L 1
	Boston	88	49	1.0	L 1
	Toronto	71	66	18.0	W 1
	Tampa Bay	62	74	26.5	W 2
	Baltimore	61	76	28.0	L 2

International League (AAA)

(84-58) @ (69-73)

Richmond Braves	5	11	0
Norfolk Tides	2	12	0

Record: (69-74)
Place: Last (16.0 games back) - Eliminated
Streak (Loss 2)

Eastern League (AA)

(78-62) @ (67-73)

Bowie Baysox	3	14	0
Harrisburg Senators	0	7	2

Record (79-62)
Place: 1st (4.0 games up) - Clinched Division

Streak: (Won 1)

Statistic Leaders through August 31st

A. Huff 1B .346 Batting Avg L. Scott LF 25 Home Runs N. Markakis LF 92 RBIs B. Roberts 2B 51 Steals D. Cabrera SP 11 Wins T. Patton SP 2.90 ERA C. Bradford RP 1.68 ERA G. Sherrill CL 36 Saves D. Cabrera SP 125 Strike Outs J. Lewis RP 70 Strike Outs