Jered Weaver cooled off the hottest team in baseball.Weaver gave up just four hits in eight innings and the Los Angeles Angels beat the Tampa Bay Rays 6-1 on Tuesday night.
Garret Anderson and Vladimir Guerrero each hit two-run home runs as the Angels picked up their first win against Tampa Bay this season.
The Rays swept three home games against the Angels in May and pounded out 18 hits in a 13-4 win in the series opener in Anaheim on Monday. That victory gave Tampa Bay a 30-15 record since April 22, the best in the majors.
But the Angles quickly generated four runs against Tampa Bay starter James Shields in the first inning Tuesday and that was more than enough for Weaver to work with.
Weaver (6-6), who has won four of his last five starts after struggling early in the season, held the Rays to three hits over the first seven innings before giving up a solo homer to Gabe Gross in the eighth.
“Obviously it’s been a little roller coaster for me, a little different than in past years,” said Weaver. “That’s just guys trying to make adjustments on me and me trying to make adjustments on them.”
Shields (4-5) was making his first start since being ejected in a June 5 game at Boston when he hit Boston outfielder Coco Crisp with a pitch to open the second inning, leading to a bench clearing brawl.
Shields was assessed a six-game suspension for his role in the brawl. The native of nearby Newhall, California planned to begin serving the suspension after Tuesday’s start.
“His grandmother is going to be here, she’s never seen him pitch in front of such a big crowd, it’s a big moment for him,” said Rays manager Joe Maddon before the game.
Shields tossed a one-hit shutout against the Angels in St. Petersburg on May 9, but he quickly ran into trouble Tuesday as Los Angeles collected six hits and four runs in the first inning.
“I thought I threw some pretty good pitches in the first inning, they just didn’t go my way,” said Shields. “I made good pitches, they hit good pitches. It could easily have been the other way.”
After Maicer Izturis singled to extend a 10-game hitting streak, Anderson gave the Angels a quick 2-0 lead with his sixth home run of the season.
Guerrero singled and scored on a double by Howie Kendrick before Jeff Mathis reached on an infield single that allowed Casey Kotchman to add the fourth Angels run, matching the team’s season high for production in the first inning.
“Early in the game (Shields) was trying to get his feet on the ground and he missed some spots,” said Angels manager Mike Scioscia. “We took advantage of it.”
Izturis also singled in the fifth before Guerrero hit his ninth home run of the season.
Guerrero went 4-for-4 against the Rays on Monday and is now 6-for-7 in the series.
Tampa Bay rookie Evan Longoria had a pair of doubles against Weaver after going 3-for-4 with two home runs in the series opener Monday (Associated Press - Sports).
