Rays blow a late lead

After all those come-from-behind victories, the Rays apparently were due for a come-from-ahead loss.

They absorbed one Wednesday night, blowing a three-run lead in the final frames and wasting a quality James Shields start for the umpteenth time this season as they fell 4-3 to the White Sox.

The untimely setback on the heels of triumphant rallies in four of their previous five contests dropped the Rays another game behind the surging Yankees, and once again it came right down to the wire.

Shields had an unwitting hand in the dominoes that fell with two outs in the bottom of the seventh, turning what at that point was a 3-1 Rays edge into a slim deficit Tampa Bay wouldn't be able to overcome. He handed matters over to the bullpen after walking ninth-place hitter Gordon Beckham with the bases empty, and that's when things got out of hand for the Rays.

Randy Choate did as expected in getting Scott Podsednik to put the ball on the ground, but the leadoff man's chopper to short forced Jason Bartlett to rush his throw to first, and he fired the ball well wide of Carlos Pena and watched in dismay as it sailed into the Rays' dugout.

Maddon summoned Chad Bradford at that point, and the right-hander made it as far as the mound but that was about it. After a couple of warm-up tosses, he stepped back, looking uncomfortable, and catcher Dioner Navarro signaled for the dugout. Bradford departed (lower back stiffness was the diagnosis) and Dan Wheeler - who had not been warming up - came on to face Alexei Ramirez.

The shortstop worked the count full, then drilled a pitch to center. B.J. Upton misjudged it, immediately breaking in before desperately reversing his field. He couldn't get back in time and the ball rolled to the wall for a two-run triple that tied the game at 3. Next up was Jermaine Dye, who deposited a single in front of Upton to give the White Sox a lead before Joe Nelson got the Rays out of the inning.

"We've been playing some tough ballgames," said Upton. "You've got to win the close ones, and unfortunately we couldn't win today."

Not that the Rays assumed the lead they had built on a solo homer by Pat Burrell in the fourth and a long two-run bomb by Gabe Gross in the sixth was bulletproof, of course. They're well aware of what the White Sox offense can do when it gets cranked up, although the long ball usually plays a part.

That wasn't the case Wednesday, aside from the reborn Podsednik's leadoff homer vs. Shields in the sixth that provided Chicago's first run. But the opportunistic rally stemming from that Beckham walk was more than enough to unravel a fine bounce-back outing for Shields after he had been touched up for a season-high seven runs by the Royals in his first second-half start.

Looking forward to his start the previous afternoon, Shields said it was easier to brush off what happened in Kansas City because he has otherwise been pretty consistent all season. Indeed, Friday's outing marked only the second time since the season opener that Shields didn't complete at least six innings.

Aside from issuing a rare walk to the second batter he faced Wednesday, Shields looked completely self-assured from the beginning. He threw strikes and piled up outs and held the White Sox scoreless through five.

But as the Rays know, the game isn't over until the final out, and the timing didn't go their way.