"Forget the long road trip and everything that happened over the course of those 13 days, good or bad. Forget the record at home this season, which has been very un-Trop-like.

The Red Sox were in town, and the sight of those Boston jerseys has a way of getting the Tampa Bay Rays' attention.

So what if the Red Sox were the hottest team in baseball, and big deal if Boston Carl Crawford was starting to look like Tampa Bay Carl Crawford.

None of that mattered Tuesday.

What did matter was James Shields was as good as he's ever been, and Justin Ruggiano, the Rays' third left fielder this season, is playing like an All-Star.

That combination was good enough to produce a 4-0 victory in front of 20,972 at Tropicana Field.

Shields tossed his fourth complete-game and major league-leading third shutout, and Ruggiano drove in the first run of the game in the fifth inning with a solo home run down the left-field line off Tim Wakefield that sailed over Crawford's head and just made it into the seats.

"To have a team as hot as the Red Sox are coming in to our yard when we're not very hot at home, to be able to start off the homestand like that gives us a boost," Shields said.

The Rays stopped Boston's nine-game winning streak, the longest in the majors this season.

The Rays also moved to within 31/2 games of the first-place Red Sox.

"I know those guys over there step it up when the Red Sox come into town," Crawford said. "I expected (Shields) to pitch one of his best games, and he did."

Shields' big game started with Crawford's first inning at-bat. He walked David Ortiz to load the bases for Crawford, who had hit safely in 10 of his previous 11 games."