33 James Shields, SP

Royals pitcher James Shields turned in a stellar outing but suffered his fourth loss of the season Friday night against the Atheltics.

Shields (2-4), who made his ninth start of the season, blew a one-run lead as he served up solo home runs to Josh Donaldson and Adam Rosales late in the game. He was charged with two runs and six hits over eight innings of work. He struck out nine and walked one in a 2-1 defeat.

Shields has gone eight innings strong in five of his last seven starts. He has allowed four runs over his last 24 innings of work. He is scheduled to make his next start Wednesday at Houston. He has allowed six runs over his last 20 innings of work on the road.

Royals pitcher James Shields (2-3) was tagged for three runs -- two earned -- and six hits over eight innings during a 3-2 loss to the Yankees on Saturday night. He managed just five strikeouts -- his second-lowest total in eight starts this season -- and walked two batters during his 116-pitch performance.

Coming off a dominant two-hit outing against the White Sox on Monday, Shields was able to complete eight outings but failed to record a win for the fourth time in his past five games. Two of his runs allowed came on a homer by Vernon Wells in the fifth inning to erase the Royals' 2-1 lead and he dropped to 7-15 in his career against New York.

Shields will make his next scheduled start Friday at Oakland, a team he fired a complete game against with 11 strikeouts in his only outing last year as a member of the Rays.

Royals starting pitcher James Shields tossed eight shutout innings and was in line for a 1-0 win Monday against the White Sox, but closer Greg Holland allowed Chicago to tie the game in the ninth inning, costing Shields a victory. Shields allowed two hits and two walks, while striking out a season-high nine batters.

Monday was also the first time Shields didn't allow a run this season. He lowered his ERA from 3.00 to 2.52, while throwing 64 of 102 pitches for strikes.

Shields is expected to return to action Saturday against the Yankees. Shields is 7-14 with a 4.56 ERA in 26 career starts against New York.