Tampa Bay @ Boston preview
Fenway Park
Last Meeting ( Apr 16, 2010 ) Tampa Bay 3, Boston 1
To most fans, Fenway Park is a shrine where people can worship the beauty and the glory of the game of baseball.
James Shields probably doesn't share the same warm and fuzzy thoughts.
And no one can blame him.
Tampa Bay's right-hander, who gets the start for the Rays in Saturday night's game against the Boston Red Sox, has had a nightmarish time in one of America's most beloved venues.
Shields is 0-6 with an 8.04 ERA in six career starts in Boston. His overall numbers against the Red Sox aren't much to brag about either. Shields is 3-7 with a 5.32 ERA in 12 career starts against the AL East rivals.
Obviously, Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon will be looking for better results this time, but before that can happen, the teams have some unfinished business to resolve.
Friday night's game, which was suspended by rain with the Red Sox coming to bat in the bottom of the ninth and the score tied 1-1, must be completed first. Saturday night's scheduled game will begin following the completion of the suspended contest.
Neither team mustered much offense Friday night. The Rays managed an unearned run in the third while Jason Varitek's leadoff homer in the fifth was the only run the Red Sox put on the board. Tampa Bay had four hits off three Boston pitchers while the Red Sox had three hits off four Rays pitchers.
Maybe the lack of offense, at least from Boston's standpoint, will help Shields turn around his fortunes at Fenway. He left Sunday's start against the New York Yankees in the sixth inning with a 2-1 lead, but the bullpen didn't hold on.
Clay Buchholz gets the start for Boston. The young right-hander wasn't exactly lights-out in his first start against the Kansas City Royals, but ended up with the win. He allowed three runs and seven hits in five innings as the Boston bats rolled to an 8-6 victory.
The Red Sox continue to play short-handed. Center fielder Mike Cameron, who passed a kidney stone at a Boston hospital Friday, could be back in the lineup. He has missed the last two games.
It's unclear when left fielder and leadoff man Jacoby Ellsbury will return. He has missed the last four games after suffering bruised ribs in his left side, suffered in a collision with third baseman Adrian Beltre on Sunday.