Shields got out of a small jam in the 4^th inning, as Joe Mauer singled, then stole second on a pitch that Willingham struck out looking at. Justin Morneau then sharply lined out to Upton in center, and Ryan Doumit grounded out to Rodriguez at short. The Rays had another chance to score in the bottom of the 4^th. Longoria struck out swinging to start the inning. Next up was Luke Scott, who battled Pavano in a ten pitch at bat. Scott got around on the sixth sinker of the at bat and hit a double the opposite way to left. Matt Joyce then singled to right field, advancing Scott to third. Upton had a chance to get his first big hit of his young season, but grounded into a 5-4-3 double play to end the inning. This continued a noticeable trend for the Rays this season; prior to this game they were only batting .236 with runners in scoring position.

After a 1-2-3 top of the 5^th inning, the Rays had more chances to score. Molina hit the first pitch thrown in the bottom of the inning for a double to left field. Joe Maddon must have felt that this game would be decided by only a few runs, so he had Sean Rodriguez lay down a sacrifice bunt to move Molina to third. With the slow-footed Molina on third, no one in the ball park must have seen a suicide squeeze coming.  Desmond Jennings did not get a good bunt attempt down on the third pitch in the at bat and popped it up down the first base side as Molina chugged his way home. Joe Mauer showed off the athleticism that he is known for and made a diving catch and doubled off Molina at third with plenty of time to spare.

Shields then pitched himself into trouble in the top of the 6^th inning. After two quick outs, Mauer singled, Willingham was hit by a pitch, and Morneau walked to load the bases. On a 2-2 count, Ryan Doumit hit a hard line drive in between short and third, but thanks to a patented Maddon shift, Longoria was able to snag the final out to end the danger. The bottom of the 6^th inning was even more dramatic than the top. Ben Zobrist struck out to begin the inning. Pena and Longoria reached on a hit and a single, respectively. They tagged up on a deep fly out by Luke Scott. Matt Joyce was then intentionally walked to bring up B.J. Upton. With two strikes on him, Upton was not fooled by a changeup that he softly lined in front of Denard Span in center field. Span fired a rocket to third to try to nab Joyce, but the ball hit Joyce’s back and squirted into foul territory. Three runs scored on the single by Upton, and he found himself at 3^rd base with two RBI.

By the 7^th inning, Shields was reeling as he set down the Twins 1-2-3. The Rays got one more run in the bottom of the 7^th thanks to an infield single by Jennings, an error by shortstop Jamey Carroll, a hit batsman in Pena, and an error by third baseman Valencia. Luke Scott ended the inning by grounding into a double play, thanks to a smooth glove flip by Alexi Casilla. Shields continued his masterful performance with another perfect inning in the 8^th, his fourth 1-2-3 frame of the night. Like his last start, Shields tried to pitch a complete game and came out for the 9^th, but also like his last start, he had to be relieved by Fernando Rodney. Rodney inherited a runner at first and third from Shields, but got help from a Desmond Jennings running catch in the corner in left; Willingham scored on the sacrifice. Rodney then struck out Valencia and Clete Thomas to end the game and earn his fifth save.

This marked the 3^rd consecutive game that James Shields has pitched 8+ innings. He had control of all of his pitches, and worked quickly through the Twins lineup; three of his strikeouts were on sliders, and three were on changeups. He ended the night with seven strikeouts, two walks, five hits, and one earned run (which scored after he left the game). He effectively got out of jams, and continues to prove that last year’s stellar season was no fluke as his ERA now sits at 2.76. Tampa batters did get eight hits, including Upton’s go-ahead single in the 6^th that ignited the 31,774 in attendance.  However, they were fortunate that the Twins made three errors leading to two of their runs. The Rays were patient all night at the plate. They drew four walks, and averaged 4.41 pitches per plate appearance. Zobrist and Rodriguez were the only two Rays that did not get a hit, as both of them are struggling at the plate to start the season. B.J. Upton had a nice second game, as he had two hits, two RBI, and was on base three times. Tampa looks to win the rubber match tomorrow afternoon at 1:40 as Jeff Niemann takes on a struggling Francisco Liriano.

Once again, the Rays bullpen failed to hold a lead, and the Rays dropped to 7-7 on the year.

Minnesota began the scoring early against Rays starter Matt Moore. With one out, Jamey Carroll hit a single to shallow left field. Following a steal of second, Joe Mauer drove Carroll in with a single to left, giving the Twins an early 1-0 lead. Moore would escape the inning without further damage, but pitched with runners on base all night.

Minnesota starter Liam Hendriks, on the other hand, was in control early. While Moore gave up 7 baserunners over the first 4 innings, the Rays only had a second inning Evan Longoria walk and a Matt Joyce single against Hendriks.

Moore eventually got touched up again in the top of the fifth. Denard Span led off the inning with an infield hit, and promptly stole second. Carroll grounded out to short, moving Span over to third. Joe Mauer then struck yet again with a base hit to center, plating Span and giving the Twins a 2-0 lead. Josh Willingham hit a line drive to third, and Mauer was doubled off first to end the inning.

The Rays finally got on the board in the bottom of the inning. With one out, Matt Joyce continued the hot start to his season, slugging his fourth home run of the year to center to cut the lead to 2-1. Hendricks then retired B.J. Upton and Chris Gimenez on groundballs to third to end the inning.

In the bottom of the sixth, the Rays offense showed some signs of life. Sean Rodriguez hit a sharp ground ball to second, which glanced off Alexi Casilla‘s glove for a base hit. Desmond Jennings followed with a bunt, and reached first when Casilla was slow to cover first. Ben Zobrist walked to load the bases with no outs. Carlos Pena came up, and hit into a 4-6-3 double play, tying the game at 2. Evan Longoria followed with a home run to left, giving the Rays the lead at 4-2.

The lead would not hold up for long, however. With one out, Casilla singled to center, ending Moore’s night. Brandon Gomes came on in relief, and allowed both hitters he faced to reach base, as Span singled and Carroll walked. With the bases loaded, Joel Peralta was brought in to try to escape the jam. Mauer flied out to shallow left, leaving the bases loaded with two out. Josh Willingham then lined a double to right center, clearing the bases and giving the Twins a 5-4 lead. The double extended his hitting streak to start the year to 14 games, leaving him one away from tying the team record held by Kirby Puckett.

That score would hold up, as the Twins bullpen allowed only an eighth inning walk to Ben Zobrist the rest of the way. Once again, the Rays bullpen failed to hold a lead, as Joe Maddon is still in search of a reliable arm to come in for the late innings of a close ballgame.

• Buster Olney tweeted that the Rays will have to be overwhelmed to trade BJ Upton, but are listening. It’s good to see the rumors will never die.
• Marc Topkin tweeted that Joe Maddon is confident for an extension, which is good news for Rays fans. The Rays need the franchise’s best manager to stick around for a while to get a few championships.
• The biggest news of the day was the Rays being linked to Josh Willingham, which I discussed at length earlier.
• CBS Sports’ Danny Knobler posted that the Rays are willing to trade Jeff Niemann and Wade Davis but must be overwhelmed to trade James Shields. He also posted that the Rays would like to trade Reid Brignac, upgrade their catching, and are listening on BJ Upton. The Reid Brignac piece is new, so we will see if anything happens there. The Rays must like Sean Rodriguez more and think he can be their full time shortstop. It would be nice to see the Rays add another catcher to go with Jose Molina, because I just don’t think Robinson Chirinos or Jose Lobaton are good enough.
• Speaking of BJ Upton, Jon Morosi tweeted that interest on BJ Upton has been “mild” so far. We will see if the Nationals make a play at him, since they have been interested for quite a while and have some pieces that could interest the Rays. If BJ Upton does get traded and the Rays sign Josh Willingham, it would be just as easy as moving Desmond Jennings to center and playing Willingham in left to fill the void.
• Finally, so we can put the rumors to rest, Bill Shaikin of the LA Times tweeted that Andrew Friedman has decided against taking the Astros job. There was probably very little chance of Friedman leaving anyway, but at least we can stop talking about it now.