Shields aiming to emulate Garza

When RHP James Shields takes the mound today against the Red Sox, he'll take a little bit of teammate Matt Garza with him.

That's after going back and watching the video of Garza's 72/3-inning, one-hit masterpiece against the Red Sox on Thursday night.

"I'm going to take what he did and kind of incorporate it with my stuff," Shields said. "I mean, I don't throw 96 mph like he does - but he did a great job."

Garza took a perfect game into the seventh inning and allowed only an infield single in a 13-0 victory. He used all four of his pitches effectively, worked ahead in the count and commanded the inside part of the plate.

"I think he missed one spot the whole game," Shields said. "The chances of that happening are slim to none. It was an amazing game to watch."

The Rays' Opening Day starter, Shields is 2-2 with a 3.74 ERA after a mixed opening month. He pitched well two starts ago in a 1-0 loss to Seattle, but in a non-decision Tuesday against Minnesota, he gave up a two-run homer in the first inning and hit a batter with the bases loaded in the sixth.

Ever the perfectionist, Shields believes he "hasn't had my good stuff at all" so far this year and hasn't been happy with his change-up, his out pitch. While he has yielded six home runs (tied for second in the AL), he has held the opposition to a .238 average.

Bartlett rests

Hot-hitting Jason Bartlett (.349) sat out, and utility man Ben Zobrist got his second start of the year at SS.

Manager Joe Maddon said he was looking for an opportunity to rest Bartlett and saw Saturday night as a good opportunity because Rays starter Jeff Niemann induces a lot of fly balls.

Monster start

3B Evan Longoria had some April. He batted .369, led the majors in doubles and extra-base hits, and tied teammate Carlos Pena for the AL lead in RBIs.

He opened May with a grand slam in the Rays' 6-2 victory vs. the Red Sox on Friday night, and a double and run scored in his first at-bat Saturday.

About his remarkable start, Longoria said he has only felt this good at the plate in spurts.

"I don't know if I've ever felt as good as this for this long," he said. "But it's a day-to-day thing. Actually, I didn't feel that good in batting practice Friday, which, sometimes is a good sign for me."

Called "Public Enemy No. 1 or No. 1-A in New England" on the Red Sox radio broadcast Saturday, Longoria was hitting .455 with four home runs and 13 RBIs in five games against Boston entering Saturday.

Teammate Carl Crawford loved the grand slam.

"He's got that 'it' factor," a beaming Crawford said. "He lives for those moments. Just some guys have it, some guys don't. He's one of those guys who have it."

Coming around

Platoon OF Gabe Gross has started justifying the faith Maddon has shown in him, raising his average from .130 to .244 in the last nine days.

Entering Saturday, when he was not in the lineup, Gross had hit safety in five of six games since April 24, going 7-for-18 (.389) with one home run and four RBIs during the stretch.

"You're only going to get out of it by playing and getting more at-bats," he said. "So having somebody that will keep throwing you back out there and have faith that you're going to come out of it is nice."

Tony Fabrizio