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Shields At Best With Homefield Advantage

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 25, 2008

ST. PETERSBURG - Rays RHP James Shields doesn't feel like a different pitcher on the road. And his manager, Joe Maddon, said he doesn't think Shields looks like a different pitcher away from Tropicana Field.

Yet, the numbers say that Shields, who starts today against the Orioles, is among baseball's best pitching with a homefield advantage. His ERA in five starts at the Trop is 1.41, third-best in the majors behind Oakland's Dana Eveland (0.94) and Milwaukee's Jeff Suppan (1.29).

"We pitch here half the time," Shields said. "We get a little comfortable with what our mound's like. We're able to talk to the grounds crew and let them know how we like it. I think it adds a little bit of advantage as far as the way we approach our outings."

In five road starts, Shields is 1-2 with a 6.04 ERA. That ERA is inflated by a 32/3-inning, seven-run outing at Boston on May 3.

Those numbers are in keeping with his career home-and-away splits: 14-7 with a 3.27 ERA at the Trop, 8-12 with a 5.00 ERA elsewhere.

He said the game doesn't change on the road.

"We're going to do what we're going to do," Shields said. "Some parks are smaller. Some parks, the backstop's a little deeper, so the plate looks a little longer. But it doesn't really change our approach as far as that goes."

Certainly, Maddon's confidence in Shields at the Trop knows no bounds. But that also holds true on the road.

"I would have to believe it's a comfort thing or a confidence thing," Maddon said. "You'd like to believe that you're going to perform a little bit better in your home yard. ... I think that just happens. I don't know if there's necessarily a good explanation for that.

"I feel very confident with him pitching a big game on the road in the future, also."

NO CYCLE FOR PENA: 1B Carlos Pena came to the plate in the sixth inning needing only a home run to become the first Rays player to hit for the cycle. He was walked by Orioles reliever Matt Albers, then was replaced in the lineup by Gabe Gross.

Maddon said Pena's pursuit of the cycle was irrelevant, that with the Rays leading 11-3 at the time, it was more important to give Pena the last few innings off to rest for today's 1:40 p.m. game.

Pena doubled in the first, tripled in the second and singled in the fourth. All three hits drove in runs.

After working the count to 3-1 against Albers in the sixth, he was hoping the next pitch would be close. Instead, it was wide and ball four.

"I knew it was going on," Pena said. "But those are things that you can't make happen. You just see the ball and hit and it ends up happening."

AYBAR UPDATE: Rehabilitating IF Willy Aybar (15-day DL, strained left hamstring) played third base Friday and first base Saturday for Triple-A Durham. He went 2-for-3 with two walks Saturday against Richmond.

Maddon said Aybar will play several more games for the Bulls in the infield and remains on pace to return to the Rays in seven-to-10 days.

NOTEWORTHY: Tampa Bay's 14 victories this month are a team record for May. The previous record was 12. The Rays have never had a winning May. ... Copies of this week's Sports Illustrated featuring a cartoon Carl Crawford on the cover will be given to the first 5,000 fans at today's game. ... Rays CF B.J. Upton went 4-for-4 to tie his career best for hits in a game. It was his third four-hit game. ... Orioles LF Luke Scott's two-run home run in the third was the 75,000th hit in Baltimore franchise history.

Carter Gaddis

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