CHICAGO -- James Shields realizes he has allowed some wins to slip from his grasp of late.

Undeterred by a six-game losing streak that dates back to July 26, though, Shields has continually vowed to finish strong as the regular season winds down.

Shields allowed only one run over six innings and struck out six and Justin Morneau drove in three runs as the Chicago White Sox beat the Tampa Bay Rays 7-1 on Monday night at U.S. Cellular Field.

Shields pitched out of trouble early and then settled in and induced a pair of double plays to avoid any further damage beyond a single run in the fourth inning.

"The double plays were huge," said Shields, who scattered seven hits against his former team. "When you get a man on first, you definitely want to make your pitch and get a ground ball, and those guys did a great job."

The White Sox offense provided Shields (6-18) with more than enough support. Morneau drove in three runs, capped by a two-run homer in the seventh inning to give the White Sox a four-run cushion. Carlos Sanchez added a two-run shot in the eighth.

But for the first time in a while, Shields also held up his end of the bargain.

"You know (the good stuff) is in there because he's been talented for so long," said Rays manager Kevin Cash, whose team has lost seven of its last eight games. "It's just kind of unfortunate that he put it together against us tonight."

The Rays threatened to close the gap in the top of the eighth after Mikie Mahtook doubled and Jaff Decker singled. But first baseman Jose Abreu threw Mahtook out at the plate on a fielder's choice before reliever Nate Jones got Alexei Ramirez to ground into an inning-ending double play.

The White Sox bullpen preserved the victory with three shutout innings.

Chicago took a 2-1 in the fourth inning on Omar Narvaez's sacrifice fly that scored Todd Frazier, who doubled and then stole second. The White Sox extended their lead to two runs in the fifth when Abreu lined a two-out RBI single off the glove of Rays first baseman Brad Miller. The hit scored Leury Garcia, who singled to lead off the inning and advanced to third base on back-to-back infield groundouts.

That's all Shields needed, making pitches when he needed to and keeping the Rays from hitting the ball hard.

"To come out with the strong outing today, even in the first inning -- getting two runners on and getting out of that jam -- it goes to show you his resilience," Frazier said. "Whenever he got runners on, he looked relaxed and induced a lot of ground balls which we needed."

The White Sox took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Morneau delivered a one-out sacrifice fly that scored Melky Cabrera, who doubled earlier in the inning.

Curt Casali's RBI single tied the score at 1 in the top of the fourth and scored Decker, who singled and stole second base.

Casali advanced to second base on the throw to the plate and reached third on a throwing error by Shields, who overthrew second baseman Carlos Sanchez and shortstop Tim Anderson while trying to make a play on Casali.

But with the go-ahead run on third, Shields struck out Bobby Wilson and Logan Forsythe to get out of the jam.

Despite his losing record, Shields -- who will make his final start of the season Saturday against Minnesota -- knows what a win in his final outing could mean moving forward. Monday may have laid the foundation for the finish Shields has been looking for.

"My body feels good, arm feels good," he said. "So hopefully, I can get another win on Saturday to end my season and move into next year."

NOTES: Rays CF Kevin Kiermaier was held out of the starting lineup Monday after being hit in the left hand by a pitch Sunday. Manager Kevin Cash said Kiermaier woke up more sore than he expected and felt it best to keep Kiermaier off his feet for one more day. ... The Rays hung a Jose Fernandez jersey in their dugout a day after the Miami Marlins pitcher who played high school baseball in Tampa was killed in a boating accident. ... White Sox CF Adam Eaton missed his third consecutive game after running into a wall in Cleveland on Friday night. Eaton said he hoped to return Tuesday, but manager Robin Ventura did not put a timetable on when Eaton would be back. Eaton worked out with White Sox's trainers in the outfield before the Monday game. ... Chicago 2B Tyler Saladino missed his fourth consecutive game due to back stiffness.