YAYYYYY the Rays won 4-1 at Texas last night, buoyed by a strong showing by starter James Shields.  Our complete game man didn’t toss another CG, but he pitched eight innings of quality ball.  Shields allowed four hits, zero runs and walked one with seven strikeouts.

Tonight, Tampa Bay’s big man, Jeff Niemann will take on super-tweeter CJ Wilson.  The Rangers will look for a boost from Adrian Beltre in this evening’s game.  The third baseman is expected to return to the lineup for the first time since he landed on the DL with a strained hamstring on July 23.

-The roster expands to 40 men today.  The Rays are set to bring outfielders Brandon Guyer and Justin Ruggiano into the fold.  When the team returns home tomorrow, they’ll bring long reliever Andy Sonnanstine back to the bullpen.  Catcher Jose Lobaton is expected to rejoin the team this weekend, as long as his left knee sprain continues to heal. [St. Petersburg Times]

-The Sun Sports team had a little fun with file photos of broadcaster Brian Anderson last night.  Here’s my favorite (original screenshot courtesy of @BRaysballTalk):

How would you caption this?

-The Rays went 18-10 in the month of August.  I’d be up for feeling a little déjà vu this month, and that’s just what Tampa Bay needs to hang on to playoff hopes.  [Rays Index]

-I love Kyle Farnsworth.  Don’t tell my parents, but I think it has something to do with his “bad boy” image.  The tats and the famous tackle, plus this season’s saves, are things of beauty.  The “closer” has 22 saves on the year with a 1.94 ERA and 0.92 WHIP.  And that is why I don’t want to see him hurt.  Farnsworth suffered from tenderness in his right elbow last week.

The MLB veteran said his elbow is fine, but he wasn’t as spot-on as usual during his inning of work last night.  Farnsworth allowed three hits and one run.  I have to hope it was just a fluke, and that his elbow really is okay, because the Rays need him in this final month of the regular season.  It’s much more fun to watch Farnsworth tackle Paul Wilson than worry about his elbow: