Gameday Preview: How To Watch Shohei Ohtani, Shane McClanahan Duel on Wednesday

ANAHEIM, Calif. — It's hard to top a no-hitter, but ace pitchers Shane McClanahan and Shohei Ohtani will try to do just that on Wednesday night when the Tampa Bay Rays and Los Angeles Angels wrap up their series at Angel Stadium.

The two stars have both been very good so far this season, sporting ERAs right around 3.00. The game starts at 7;10 p.m. ET — which will be 4:10 p.m. on the West Coast, and shadows will compound the issues for the hitters on both sides.

McClanahan is 1-0 with a 2.70 ERA in two starts against the Angels, including his lone start at Angel Stadium on May 4, 2021 when he went four scoreless innings.

Ohtani, who both hits and pitches and was the American League MVP a year ago, is 3-2 with a 3.08 ERA so far this season. Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash marvels and what he's able to do, both on the mound and at the plate.

“We’re seeing something that we’ve never seen,” Cash said. “I don’t know anybody that would say, ‘Oh, in five years, we’ll see it again. In 10 years, we’ll see it again.’ I don’t think anybody feels that convicted. So we should be appreciating it quite a bit, because he’s a really special talent.

The game is nationally televised on Fox Sports 1, as well as being seen locally on Bally Sports Sun.

Here's how to watch Wednesday's game, with gametime and TV information, the starting lineups, bios and, of course, our great daily dose of newsy nuggets.

How to watch Rays at Angels

Who: Tampa Bay Rays (18-13) at Los Angeles Angels (12-16)
When: 7:07 p.m. ET, Wednesday, May 11
Where: Angel Stadium, Anaheim, Calif.
TV: FS1, Bally Sports Sun
Stream: Fubo.tv CLICK HERE
Bally Sports Sun Announcers: Dewayne Staats (play-by-play), Brian Anderson (color commentary) and Tricia Whitaker (in-game reporter).
Radio: WDAE 95.3 FM; SiriusXM Channel 176 (Angels broadcast; Rays online only)
Radio Announcers: Andy Freed and Dave Wills.
Latest Line: Los Angeles is favored at minus-133 on the money line according to the SISportsbook.com website opening line as of Wednesday afternoon. The Rays are plus-110. The over/under is 6.5, tied for the lowest number of the season.

Rays-Angels history

Rays vs. Angels all-time series history: Los Angeles holds a 103-90 edge in the series dating back to 1998. The Rays are just 46-53 in Anaheim, and have lost the first two nights on this trip. The Rays went 6-1 against the Angels a year ago, and will play them four times in St. Petersburg from Aug. 22-25.

Rays-Angels most recent game

Angels 12, Rays 0: Tuesday was a rough night for Tampa Bay, as they were no-hit by Angels rookie Reid Detmers. It was the sixth time in franchise history that the Rays have been no-hit, but the first time since 2012. For the complete game story, CLICK HERE

Projected starting pitchers

Rays left-hander Shane McClanahan: Shane McClanahan was the Rays' Opening Day starter, and he's been very good through six starts so far. He brat the Seattle Mariners 4-3 last Thursday in Seattle. He is 2-2 on the season with a 3.06 earned run average. He has 47 strikeouts in 32 1/3 innings. That's tied for the American League lead with Chicago's Dylan Cease.
Angels right-hander Shohei Ohtani: Shohei Ohtani is the reigning American League Most Valuable Player and the talk of baseball because he's a two-way player. The Rays have already seen his power during this series, when he hit two home runs on Monday night, including his first-ever pro grand slam. As a pitcher, he's made 40 starts for the Angels since 2018, and he's 16-7 — a .696 winning percentage — with a 3.47 earned run average. He has 263 strikeouts in only 210 innings.

Projected lineups

Rays lineup: Pending
Mariners lineup: Pending

Newsy nuggets

Nugget No. 1: The Rays are 18-13 and have been playing at a high level, but there have been several nights this season where they flat out stink. They've lost 11-3 and 12-0 to the Angels so far this, and that's the sixth and seventh time this season where they've given up eight runs or more. That's second-worst in baseball behind only the Cincinnati Reds, who are by far the worst team in the sport right now. The Reds are 6-24 this season. That's not very good company to keep for the Rays.
Nugget No. 2: Wednesday's game is the last of 16 in a row for the Rays, the longest stretch of the season without a day off. They went 3-3 on the homestand with the Mariners and Twins, and then won the first six games of the road trip, three in Oakland and three in Seattle before losing in extra innings on Sunday. They've lost the first two games in Anaheim and have the day off on Thursday before opening an important series with AL East rival Toronto on Friday at Tropicana Field.
Nugget No. 3: Tampa Bay outfielder Manuel Margot won AL Player of the Week honors on Monday, but then came up a bit lame on Monday night, dealing with a hamstring issue. He didn't play on Tuesday and probably won't see any action on Wednesday either, so he can take advantage of the off day to recuperate. He's been crazy hot so far in May, going 15-for-31 so far — a .484 average — with three home runs and 13 RBIs
Nugget No. 4: With Margot limited, the Rays recalled infielder Vidal Brujan from Triple-A Durham. He was up briefly in April with the Rays, and has been hitting .300 there. Calvin Fauchet, who gave up the grand slam to Ohtani the same day he was called up, was sent back down.