Tropicana Field St. Petersburg, Florida
| Team | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Toronto Blue Jays | 5 | 9 | 0 |
 | Tampa Bay Devil Rays | 6 | 12 | 0 |
Highlights
It’s hard to imagine that we’ll see a more exciting game than this one. It had everything (home runs, good defense & excellent base running) except good relief pitching and the home team won!!! It was extremely satisfying to see a sold out crowd at the Tropicana Field cheering for the home team and being rewarded for it. It was equally gratifying to see the Rays come from behind to win the game after losing the lead earlier for the 2nd game in a row. This showed maturity not witnessed in the past from this young team and propelled them into an early sole possession of 1st place in the AL East. The Devil Rays young pitcher James Shields pitched a strong 6 2/3 innings before tiring and giving up 3 runs to tie the game. He spread out 3 hits while walking 2 and hitting 1 batter before surrendering 3 hits in a row in the top of the 7th sending him to the showers.
Akinori Iwamura had a 4 for 4 night for the Rays including a home run, 2 singles and a perfectly placed bunt during the winning rally in the bottom of the ninth and then displayed some savvy base running by moving to 3rd on a single by Elijah Dukes. He then scored the winning run on B.J. Upton’s infield hit. He was mobbed by his teammates in front of the home dugout ala the emotion you might more likely expect at the Little League World Series. It was great to see!!!! The Rays also displayed good power with 5 of their 6 runs coming from the long ball. Toronto’s big guns (Wells, Thomas & Glaus) went 3 for 11 with 1 home run and a walk accounting for 2 of their 5 runs. The Jay’s All-Star closer B.J. Ryan surrendered 5 hits and 3 runs for the loss