Tampa Bay @ Texas preview

Last Meeting ( Sep 30, 2011 ) Tampa Bay 9, Texas 0

THE STORY: The Tampa Bay Rays shellacked the Texas Rangers in the opening game and look to make it two straight road victories in Game 2 of the American League Division Series on Saturday. Tampa Bay routed the Rangers 9-0 on Friday for its sixth straight victory dating back to its late-season wild-card charge. Rookie Matt Moore tossed seven shutout innings and Kelly Shoppach had two homers and five RBIs. Game 2 starters James Shields and Derek Holland tied for the AL lead with four shutouts apiece.

TV: 7:07 p.m. ET, TBS.

PITCHING MATCHUP: Rays RH James Shields (16-12, 2.82 ERA) vs. Rangers LH Derek Holland (16-5, 3.95 ERA)

Shields shut down Texas twice in the span of a week, throwing eight innings of four-hit shutout ball on August 31 and then tossing a complete-game four-hitter in a 5-1 victory on Sept. 5. He is 5-2 with a 3.05 ERA in eight career starts against the Rangers. Josh Hamilton is 2-for-16 against Shields, who led the majors with 11 complete games.

Holland is 10-1 over his last 15 starts. He went 1-0 with a 5.84 ERA in two starts against Tampa Bay this season and is 3-1 with a 6.51 ERA in five career outings. Evan Longoria is 6-for-13 with a homer and four doubles against Holland, who tied Game 1 loser C.J. Wilson for the team lead in victories.

ABOUT THE RAYS: The light-hitting Shoppach (.176 in 2011) had three hits in the opener and joined Longoria and B.J. Upton as the only Rays to hit multiple homers in a postseason game. Johnny Damon hit his 10th career postseason homer and had three RBIs. Damon is 0-for-7 with four strikeouts against Holland. The 22-year-old Moore allowed just two hits and is the youngest pitcher to ever win his team’s first game of the postseason. The previous youngest was Gary Nolan of the 1970 Cincinnati Reds.

ABOUT THE RANGERS: Josh Hamilton had the only two hits for Texas, which led the majors in batting average (.283) and was second in homers (210). Mike Napoli and Nelson Cruz each struck out twice. Adrian Beltre, who hit 12 homers in September, was hitless and made a costly throwing error that led to two runs. Leadoff hitter Ian Kinsler is just 3-for-21 in his career against Shields.

FINAL PITCH: Texas is just 3-9 at home in its postseason history with all the wins occurring last season.