Rays' Bats Finally Come Alive, McClanahan Gets 11th Win in 8-2 Rout of Orioles

Shane McClanahan allowed just two runs over six innings, and the Tampa Bay bats finally woke up in an 8-2 win over the Baltimore Orioles that had everyone feeling good. It was McClanahan's 11th win on the season, but his first in a month.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Just when they needed it most, everything came together for the Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday. They scored eight runs for the first time in a month, played great defense and got a solid outing from ace Shane McClanahan.

It all added up an impressive 8-2 win over the Baltimore Orioles, and vaulted the Rays back into the playoff picture, a half-game ahead of the Orioles. 

McClanahan gave up two runs in the second inning when a lot of soft contact got him into some trouble, but he cruised from there, allowing just two hits in the next four innings. He's 11-5 on the season now, getting his first win since July 13.  

"My defense (worked best) for me today. I didn't have my best stuff again tonight, but those guys picked me up and the offense picked me up,'' McClanahan said. "I battled my butt off, and you just have to battle your way through it. It was a good night for all of us.

"Once they got those two in the second, I was like, 'OK, keep them here,' I think it showed again tonight too, a lot of weak contact where they were finding holes when I was making good pitches. That's a good team over there. They're taking quality at bats, taking a good approach, and they're not letting me get to two strikes.'' 

McClanahan had just four strikeouts as the Orioles looked to make contact early in counts. Four of his first six hits allowed were either infield hits or slow rollers that found holes in the infield. 

But he still got outs, and during his run of four scoreless innings through the sixth, he gave the Rays' bats a chance to turn the game around, and they did just that.

The Rays, trailing 2-1 heading into the bottom of the third, scored three times in the inning to take control, scoring all three run after two outs against DL Hall, who was making his major-league debut for the Orioles. Randy Arozarena and Isaac Paredes had RBI doubles back to back and Francisco Mejia drove in the third run with a single.

Second baseman Yu Chang, who was batting leadoff for the first time in his major-league career, drove in the fifth run with a sacrifice fly in the fourth inning, and had an RBI single in the sixth to make it 6-2. Taylor Walls hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning for the final margin.

It was great to see a total team effort from a team that's been struggling of late. They had won just six of 18 games since the All-Star break, and their hold on a playoff spot had slipped away after Friday's loss to Baltimore in the season opener.

So there was a lot at stake on Saturday. McClanahan did his job, and hitters did too, pounding out 11 hits.

"I was really happy with Shane,'' Rays manager Kevin Cash said. "We wanted to come out and win, and he kind of set that tone. He's proven what he's got.

"And we got a lot of big hits and capitalized when we had guys in scoring position, so that was good to see.''

The Orioles never scored after the second. After McClanahan's 100 pitches, relievers Colin Poche, Pete Fairbanks and Jimmy Yacabonis closed the door. Poche, who's been struggling of late, allowed just a walk in a scoreless seventh, and Fairbanks allowed just an infield hit in the eighth.

There were some fireworks though when he struck out Baltimore catcher Robinson Chirinos to end the inning. There had been some confusion over a timeout call when Fairbanks was ready to throw earlier in the at-bat, and after the strikeout, Fairbanks got a bit animated. Chirinos took offense and yapped back, and both benches emptied quickly. 

Nothing happened, though, and the dust-up didn't escalate.

"Apparently I misunderstood where the timeout call came from, and as you guys know, I can be a little fiery,'' Fairbanks said. "I grew up playing basketball, and I thought it was a fairly normal exchange of talk. I said some things to him, he said some things to me. I didn't think they were going to empty that fast.

"It is what it is. I didn't think it was anything that should linger.''

At the end of the day, it was good just to get back in the win column.  The two teams are all square at 9-9 for the season now, with the deciding game coming Sunday. Drew Rasmussen will start for the Rays, with Jordan Lyles going for Baltimore. 

McClanahan made adjustments right along with the Orioles, and got a much-needed win. That's what aces do, and what he did on Saturday. He has allowed two runs or fewer in 17 starts this season, second-most in the American League behind only Dylan Cease (19) of the Chicago White Sox.

"He looked good, and I think he felt good today,'' Rays catcher Francisco Mejia said. "They were aggressive early because you could see they didn't want to fall behind.'' 

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