was solid for 5 2/3 innings and Evan Longoria hit two of Tampa Bay's
seven home runs Monday in an 11-9 win over a split squad of Boston Red
Sox.
Shields recently was picked by Rays
manager Joe Maddon to start on opening day for the third straight year.
The right-hander gave up one run and five hits.
"I liked Shields a lot," Maddon said.
"He attacked the strike zone. Pitched primarily with his fastball but
mixed some other things in. I like the fastball and his aggressive
nature was very good."
Kelly Shoppach homered twice for Tampa
Bay and drove in four runs. Ben Zobrist, Sean Rodriguez and Hank
Blalock also homered for the Rays.
Mike Cameron had two hits for Boston
and is batting .423 this spring. He doubled off Shields and scored on
Dustin Pedroia's sacrifice fly.
"I was a little shaky at the start, a
little off, a lot of three-ball counts," Shields said. "I got in a nice
rhythm from the third on and I felt pretty good for the most part."
Boof Bonser was hit hard in his first
start for the Red Sox, giving up five runs and six hits in two-plus
innings.
Boston reliever Junichi Tazawa gave up
three home runs and Scott Atchison and Joe Nelson surrendered one each.
"I thought pretty much overall our
whole staff, when we were up, everything kind of got flat," Red Sox
manager Terry Francona said. "And when [the Rays] got it in the air, a
lot of balls left the ballpark, starting with Boof. When he came out he
revealed a little bit his right groin was grabbing at him a little bit.
So, we'll look at him tomorrow and see where that goes."
The Red Sox scored eight runs in the
last three innings. Ray Chang hit a three-run homer in the seventh off
Winston Abreu.
Notes
Boston RHP John Lackey started
a minor league intrasquad game, going five innings and giving up one run
and three hits. He struck out seven. … LHP Alan Embree, who recently
signed a minor league contract, is scheduled to pitch in a minor league
game for Boston on Wednesday. … Rays C Dioner Navarro, out with a left
shin nerve bruise, could be back before the end of the exhibition
season.