"James Shields walked into the Tampa Bay Rays' clubhouse Thursday afternoon dressed for business in a light gray tailored suit and tie.

"It's getaway day," he said six hours later. "I always wear a suit."

But he wore this stoic look that said he was ready for a big night.

"I always feel that way," he said.

Yes, but he was facing the New York Yankees.

"I really wanted to beat those guys," he said.

And so he did.

Shields turned in another sparkling performance, took advantage of what little offense the Rays could muster against CC Sabathia and led them to a 2-1 victory in front of 29,279, the third-largest Tropicana Field crowd of the season.

They picked a good one, too, a matchup of Sabathia, who leads the major leagues in wins, and Shields, who reinvented himself in the offseason and leads the majors in complete games and is among the leaders in shutouts and ERA.

The pitchers traded scoreless innings for most of the night, much like they did July 10 when Sabathia edged Shields 1-0 with the winning run scoring on a throwing error by Shields.

"That was a good battle. It's nice to come out with a win, especially with what happened last time we faced each other in New York," Shields said. "Every time you face CC you're going to get a battle, and fortunately for us we got enough runs to win a ballgame."

The Rays trimmed a game off the Yankees' lead in the wild card, moving within 51/2 games of the second-place Yankees. With the Red Sox idle, the Rays picked up a half-game on them and now trail the American League East leaders by 71/2.

With Thursday's win, the Rays finished the 10-game gauntlet with the Red Sox and Yankees with a 4-6 record and a split of this four-game series with the Yankees. They also gained some momentum as they head west for the start of a 10-game road trip that is the first half of a 20-game stretch against teams with losing records.

"You can look back and realize how easily things could have shifted in your favor if you did some things different," manager Joe Maddon said.

Mostly, that would be scoring some runs.

Or at least getting a lead a pitcher could protect.

Evan Longoria, who after Wednesday's 4-0 loss said the finger points directly at the offense, hit his first homer off a Yankee or Red Sox pitcher this season when he launched a Sabathia curveball during the first inning into the left-field seats."