BlackAmericans.com

James Shields allowed one run over seven innings to help the Tampa Bay Rays end a seven-game losing streak with a 2-1 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday night.

On Wednesday, Jorge Posada was the designated hitter for the fourth time in five games, a reduced role that left him unsatisfied.

For the second time in three starts for his new team, Sidney Ponson pitched a gem for six innings, as the Yankees won their fourth in a row.

The Rays, the best current team in the American League, do not have a position starter in the All-Star Game and has just two players on the roster over all.

The Tampa Bay Rays’ seven-game winning streak ended Monday when John Buck and Mike Aviles hit 10th-inning homers to lead the Kansas City Royals to a 7-4 victory.

Andy Sonnanstine gave up five hits in seven innings to win his fourth consecutive decision and Ben Zobrist homered again as the Tampa Bay Rays beat the visiting Kansas City Royals, 3-0.

It looked so good on the season schedule — four straight dates in early July, BOS@NYY. Mark it down. Save the date. Be there. Why, then, did it feel so anticlimactic Thursday night?

The Rays have scuffled with the Red Sox a half dozen times since 2000, including a June 5 brawl in Boston that resulted in eight players being suspended.

The backup catcher Shawn Riggans had three hits and two runs batted in, and the Tampa Bay Rays regained first place in the American League East with a 4-3 win against the host Pittsburgh Pirates.

If Reds outfielder Ken Griffey Jr. is seriously yearning to join the A.L. East pennant race and play for the Tampa Bay Rays, he sure did a good job of deflecting the question Friday.