The Yankees cut their magic number for clinching a playoff spot to three over Boston. The Red Sox lost 9-1 to Baltimore on Tuesday night.
Tampa Bay nicked Phil Hughes (17-8) and relievers Javier Vazquez and Joba Chamberlain, but never quite got the big hit it needed while stranding 10 runners.
Ahead 7-3, Chamberlain escaped a bases-loaded jam in the eighth by striking out pinch-hitter Brad Hawpe and getting John Jaso on a liner to center. Chamberlain finished for his third save.
New York has won the first two in this four-game series, and pulled even at 8-all with the Rays this season.
Robinson Cano blooped an opposite-field, two-run double to left in front of a diving Carl Crawford for a 7-3 lead in the seventh. Derek Jeter doubled home a run in the eighth.
Shields (13-13) started against the Yankees for the sixth time this season. He had done well in his previous outings, but this time they figured him out in a hurry. It's a pattern that's troubled the Tampa Bay rotation for the last few weeks – aside from ace David Price, Rays starters have struggled
A bright moon hung over the right-field facade when the game began, and Swisher hit a rocket into the bleachers on Shields' sixth pitch for his 27th homer. Jorge Posada hit an RBI single with two outs, Lance Berkman boomed a two-run double and Curtis Granderson's single made it 5-0.
Shields backed up the plate on Granderson's hit, and slammed his pitching hand into his glove and shouted at himself. Big Game James had a word, too, for plate umpire Mike Everitt in the third after Posada reached on a hit by pitch.
The ball skipped past Posada's shin and he instantly headed toward first base — it was impossible to tell from replays whether the pitch grazed his pants leg and besides, umpires make that call based on sound, rather than sight.
Shields, catcher Jaso and manager Joe Maddon calmly discussed it with Everitt, surely still smarting from Jeter's admitted act last week after a Rays pitch hit the knob of his bat, not him. Maddon came out again when the inning ended to talk with Everitt, maybe thinking that after an episode of Jeter Cheater, it should be Posada Nada.
Matt Joyce hit a solo home run in the Rays second and Evan Longoria had an RBI single in the third. Ben Zobrist grounded out with the bases loaded to end the fourth and brushed past Hughes, who was covering first. Hughes turned to look at Zobrist, but nothing ensued.
Notes
Posada was hit in the groin area by Longoria's foul tip with two outs in the ninth. He was checked by a trainer and stayed in the game. … Hughes has given up 20 home runs at home this season, matching the Yankees mark set by Scott Sanderson in 1992. … Wade Davis is set to start for the Rays on Wednesday night against A.J. Burnett. … Yankees manager Joe Girardi said 1B Mark Teixeira, in a 3-for-20 slump and nursing a broken toe and sore thumb, may get a couple of days off next week if possible. … Grammy winner Emilio Estefan threw out the first ball, a hard strike. … An official scoring review took away an earned run from Yankees starter Ivan Nova the previous night. That dropped the rookie's ERA from 4.37 to 4.11.