GameDay Preview: Paredes, McClanahan Join MLB Elite With Recent Hot Streaks
TORONTO — No one is running hotter on the Tampa Bay Rays these days than infielder Isaas Paredes and pitcher Shane McClanahan. They've been putting up some epic numbers, and they're getting listed with some of the great game in the game, both past and present.
McClanahan beat the Toronto Blue Jays on Saturday, pitching seven innings of one-run ball, the ninth time in 10 games that he's allowed one run or less. As we mentioned in Saturday's game story, he became the first person in major-league history to allow 19 earned runs or less and post 133 strikeouts or more in their first 16 starts to a season.
Well, there's more.
McClanahan now has gone 10 straight outings of pitching six innings or more, posting seven strikeouts or more and allowing two runs or fewer. That's the longest single-season streak in American League history, and the third-longest streak in the majors since Baseball Reference data is available since 1901. The only longer streaks are 14 by Randy Johnson of the Arizona Diamondback in 1999 and 12 by Mike Scott of the Houston Astros in 1986.
Paredes hit a solo home runs in Game 1, and then a three-run homer in the nightcap. He now has 13 home runs on the season, and they've all come since May 18. He became just the second Rays player to homer in both ends of a doubleheader — the other was Ben Zobrist on April 28, 2011 at Minnesota — and he's homered in back-to-back games for just the second time in his career.
He has three home runs in the past four games, eight homers in the past 10 games and 13 in his last 32 games. Since May 18, only Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees (18) has hit more homers.
Here's the list of the AL's top home run hitters since May 18:
- 18 — Aaron Judge, New York Yankees
- 13 — Isaac Paredes, TAMPA BAY RAYS
- 13 — Mike Trout, Los Angeles Angels
- 12 — Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Toronto Blue Jays
- 12 — Anthony Rizzo, New York Yankees
Paredes' .683 slugging percentage since May 19 ranks third in the majors behind only Paul Goldschmidt (.723) of the St. Louis Cardinals and Yordan Alvarez (.696) of the Houston Astros.
Paredes is the only the second play in Tampa Bay history with at least eight home runs, 15 RBIs and a 1.500 OPS or higher over a 10-game span. The only other player to do it was Fred McGriff in 1999, the Rays' second season. McGriff had eight homers, 16 RBIs and a 1.811 OPS from April 28–May 7, 1999.
Since June 21, the Rays have 13 home runs in 11 games, and Paredes has hit eight or them. Since May 18, he has 13 of the club’s 38 home runs.
Paredes is back in the lineup on Sunday for the final game of the five-game series with the Toronto Blue Jays. He's playing third base and batting fifth.
Here's everything you need to know about Sunday's game:
How to watch Rays at Blue Jays
- Who: Tampa Bay Rays (42-36) at Toronto Blue Jays (44-35)
- When: 1:37 p.m. ET, Sunday, July 3
- Where: Rogers Center, Toronto
- TV: Bally Sports Sun
- Stream: Fubo.tv CLICK HERE
- Announcers: Dewayne Staats (play-by-play), Brian Anderson (color commentary) and Tricia Whitaker (reporter).
- Radio: WDAE 95.3 FM, SiriusXM Channel 178 (Blue Jays announcers; Rays online)
- Announcers: Andy Freed and Dave Wills.
- Latest line: The Blue Jays are favored at minus-135 on the money line in Game 1 according to the Fanduel.com website opening line as of Sunday morning. The Rays are plus-116. The over/under is 8.5.
Projected lineups
- RAYS: Yandy Diaz DH, Wander Franco SS, Harold Ramirez RF, Ji-Man Choi 1B, Isaac Paredes 1B, Randy Arozarena LF, Kevin Kiermaier CF, Taylor Walls 2B, Rene Pinto C, Shane Baz P.
- BLUE JAYS: George Springer DH, Bo Bichette SS, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. 1B, Teoscar Hernandez RF, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. LF, Ramiel Tapia CF, Matt Chapman 3B, Gabriel Moreno C, Cavan Biggio 2B, Ross Stripling P.
Right-hander Ross Stripling is starting on Sunday for the Toronto Blue Jays when they take on the Tampa Bay Rays in the final game of a five-game series. This year, the Blue Jays have won eight of the past nine games he has appeared in. (Kamil Krzaczynski/USA TODAY Sports)
Projected starting pitchers
- SHANE BAZ, Rays: Shane Baz has made four starts for the Rays since coming back from elbow surgery. He is 0-1 with a 3.38 earned run average, but he's actually pitched better than that. He allowed five runs in one inning of his first start, and since then, his ERA is 1.10. He has allowed only nine hits total in his last three starts, covering 16 1/3 innings. Despite the great pitching, the Rays have lost all four of his starts.
- ROSS STRIPLING, Blue Jays: Ross Stripling is 4-2 with a 3.12 ERA for the Blue Jays this season. The eight-year veteran from Blue Bell, Pa., has appeared in 18 games, making 10 starts. He has yet to face the Rays this season, but faced them four times a year ago. He was 0-2 against the Rays, and was wildly inconsistent. He threw seven scoreless innings on May 24, allowing two hits, but the Rays won the game — stunningly — 14-8 in 11 innings in one of the most bizarre games of the season. The Rays scored five unearned runs in the first inning off of starter Trent Thornton and then Stripling shut them down. But the Rays scored twice in the 10th inning and seven times in the 11th to win. The last time they faced him, on Sept. 21 last year, they tagged him for five runs in just 1 1/3 innings. This year, the Blue Jays have won eight of the past nine games he has appeared in.
Tampa Bay rookie Shane Baz has allowed only nine hits total in his last three starts, covering 16 1/3 innings. Despite the great pitching, the Rays have lost all four of his starts. (Kim Klement/USA TODAY Sports)
Related stories on Rays baseball
- RAYS SCORE 11 in GAME 2 WIN (Saturday): Five Tampa Bay hitters had multi-hit games and Drew Rasmussen made a solid return to the Rays' starting rotation in an 11-5 win over the Toronto Blue Jays on Saturday night, sweeping the doubleheader. Isaac Paredes hit another home run, his 13th of the season, and catcher Francisco Mejia hit two home runs. CLICK HERE
- McCLANAHAN SPARKLES IN GAME 1 (Saturday): Rays pitcher Shame McClanahan set a major-league record in the Rays' 6-2 win over the Toronto Blue Jays on Saturday doubleheader. He became the only pitcher in MLB history with 19 earned runs or fewer and at least 133 strikeouts thru 16 starts of a season. CLICK HERE
- BLUE JAYS DOUBLE UP RAYS (Friday): Five doubles in the third inning, including one that bounced off the glove of Tampa Bay center fielder Kevin Kiermaier, led to a 9-2 rout by the Toronto Blue Jays over the Rays on Friday, their fourth straight loss, matching the longest longest streak of the season. CLICK HERE
- FILL-IN YARBROUGH ROUGHED UP: Struggling lefty Ryan Yarbrough was an emergency call-up from Triple-A Durham, filling in for Jeffrey Springs, who couldn't make the trip to Toronto because of a family medical issue. Yarbrough gave up two home runs in the 4-1 loss, the first of five games in four days north of the border. CLICK HERE
- NO RALEY, THOMPSON IN CANADA: Unvaccinated athletes are not allowed to travel in and out of Canada, so that means Tampa Bay Rays relievers Brooks Raley and Ryan Thompson, who have chosen to not get the COVID-19 vaccines, did not make the trip. They'll be missed in a series where the Rays play five games in four days. CLICK HERE
- RAYS SCHEDULE: Here is the complete schedule for the 2022 Tampa Bay Rays season, including dates and game times, and results of all games played thus far. CLICK HERE
