Myers hasn't pitched since his Game 2 National League Championship Series tour de force against the Dodgers - the three hits and three RBIs, the first-inning pitch behind Manny Ramirez, getting the win despite giving up five runs in five innings.
In his last start, Shields gave up all four Boston runs in Game 6 of the American League Championship Series, leaving in the sixth inning.
"I don't think I was on with my fastball command as I wanted to be," Shields said. "I was just missing the plate. But sometimes that happens. And I thought I did a pretty good job of getting as deep as I could in the game and giving our team a chance to win."
In Game 1, Shields was unlucky to pick up the loss, giving up just two runs in the first game since Sept. 8 where the Rays failed to score.
"In my first game, I was right where I needed to be," said Shields, who pointed out that at 26, he's the oldest in Tampa Bay's rotation.
"My location was really good. My fastball command was really good. My change-up was really good that game, and my curveball was pretty good. . . . I was pretty much on my A game, and that's what we need to have."
On the national stage, Myers was asked again about his midseason trip to triple A, how accepting the move, even embracing it, resurrected his season.
"I knew I needed to go down and take responsibility for how I was pitching," Myers said, recalling how as a closer last season he tried to strike everybody out, how that mentality failed miserably as a starter. "In order to be successful, I needed to figure things out, and I did. I was able to come back with some confidence and be able to pitch in bigger games, and kind of got the feel back for starting pitching again."
