James Shields survives - but doesn't quite thrive - in latest White Sox outing

BOSTON - James Shields’ return to the American League has been anything but pretty. He entered Thursday’s matinee against the Red Sox at Fenway Park 0-2 with a 21.81 ERA in three starts since a June 4 trade brought him from San Diego to the Chicago White Sox.

He became just the second pitcher in White Sox history to allow seven or more runs in his debut with the team, joining Fred Lamlein who did so in 1912 – and made just four more big league appearances.

Add in Shields’ final outing with the Padres, and he had a 24.62 ERA in his previous four starts. He is the first major league pitcher to give up 31 earned runs over a four-start span since Jose Contreras did so in 2007 – for the White Sox. Since acquiring Shields, the White Sox had gone 7-10, and his nickname – Big Game James – had increasingly become a term of derision.

Yet despite his 5.42 ERA in 13 starts at Fenway, and despite facing a club leading the AL in most offensive categories, Shields easily furnished his best outing with the White Sox and put them in position for a four-game sweep.

Instead, they lost 8-7 in 10 innings. But their lone loss this week provided some glimmer Shields might regain the form that deserted him the last month.

Shields pitched five innings (plus two batters in the sixth), giving up three runs on five hits and four walks – a career high in 27 starts against the Red Sox - with three strikeouts. He whittled his White Sox ERA to 15.80.

“He was just getting ahead,” said manager Robin Ventura. “He was just locating. He just looked better as far as rhythm and all that. I think if he gets ahead, then he’s able to use his off-speed stuff. For me, that was the big difference today.”

Shields threw 99 pitches, 59 for strikes, with first-pitch strikes to 15 of the 23 batters he faced, despite first-pitch balls to each of the five batters he faced in the second. That was an area pitching coach Don Cooper had stressed.

“Improvement,” Cooper said. “I think he let go of some of the negative stuff that’s been happening. I saw him competing, throwing more strikes, competing into the game. So it was all good.”

While the outing was a “big step forward,” Cooper would like to see Shields going deeper into games. When Shields departed in the sixth, he left the White Sox with a 3-1 lead, after they got two runs off Red Sox right-hander Rick Porcello in the first and another in the fourth. Taking a no-decision, Shields hasn’t earned a win since May 12, a stretch of seven starts.

While Shields had just one clean inning – retiring the top of the lineup in order in the third -- he kept Boston’s potent offense in check for most of his outing. But he gave up a run in fifth when he gave up a two-out single to Mookie Betts, who scored on Dustin Pedroia’s double.

He then opened the sixth with back-to-back walks to David Ortiz and Ryan LaMarre. Shields was done after the two free passes, with Matt Albers replacing him, guarding a tenuous two-run lead and potential win for Shields.

Albers allowed both of the inherited runners to score, as the Red Sox got four in the inningon their way to a walk-off win, thanks to Xander Bogaerts’ 10th-inning, RBI single

While this may have been Shields’ best outing in his return to the AL, there is obviously still work to do. According to a rival evaluator in attendance, Shields' fastball command left much to be desired, and Shields had to work too hard for outs, indicating an inability to finish off hitters. The evaluator spoke to USA TODAY Sports on condition of anonymity for competitive reasons.

“I felt delivery-wise it was pretty good,” Shields said. “I think like the fourth inning I got a little ahead of myself out of the stretch, but got out of it right there. But I got to do a better job in that sixth inning of not walking those guys. But other than that, overall pretty decent, a positive direction.”

They will need more from him and the other starters if they are to make up room in the division, where they are now six games out.

Still, it represented a positive direction for the White Sox, too. They entered the series 2-6 in their last eight games, including a three-game sweep by the Indians in Cleveland.

“Well, we won three out of four. You look at it that way,” Ventura said. “You could look at a lot of things negatively, the way it’s been going for us. You win the series and get ready for tomorrow.”

They just missed a chance to earn their first four-game sweep at Fenway Park since 1927.

“Well, it’s extremely difficult to beat a team four games in a row, especially a team as good as they are,” said catcher Alex Avila. “It was impressive. The quality of baseball we played this series was probably the best baseball we’ve played all year, including the nice start (23-10) that we had. I thought that we made some big pitches when we had to, got some big-time this when we needed to, which is something that’s been lacking in the past few weeks.”

“Winning three out of four is pretty good, so get excited about that,” said right fielder Adam Eaton. “Staff showed some heart, hitting battled back and forth there.

“It was good to see what we saw out of (Shields) today, for sure. We wish we would have got the win for him but sometimes that’s baseball.”

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2016/06/23/james-shields-white-sox-red-sox-fenway-park/86301914/