Shane McClanahan gave the Rays a good first start on Friday, while Tampa Bay won a battle of the bullpens, squeaking out a Rays-way 2-1 victory over Baltimore at the Trop.
McClanahan posted 4.1 scoreless frames, scattering four hits, two walks, and a hit batter while punching out seven. The left-hander was particularly tough with runners in scoring position, holding the Orioles to 0-for-5 wRISP with a pair of strikeouts and a double-play groundout. McClanahan ran into some trouble in the first inning — his first pitch of the season plunked Cedric Mullins and he eventually found himself one-out, bases-loaded jam before escaping the first unscathed. Be that as it may, he settled in nicely and finished his day throwing 44 of 68 pitches for strikes (65% strike rate) with his fastball hitting triple digits, and at one point striking out five of six batters.
Interestingly enough, during the game, McClanahan had thrown 33% curveballs and coaxed five swings and misses on the pitch — more than he had thrown previously in a game. This could have been an effect of a difficulty in throwing his heater for strikes early on, or he could have been trying something different against a low leverage team. Moving forward, it will be interesting to see he continues to lean on his hammer more.
Meanwhile, the Rays forced John Means to throw 84 total pitches across four-innings and took the lead in the third inning.
Yandy Díaz, Wander Franco, and Randy Arozarena each came up with well-struck singles in the frame, consequently loading the bases, before Brandon Lowe lifted a sacrifice fly to right-center to score Díaz with the first run of the season.
Baltimore got their only run in the sixth inning against Matt Wisler, who had been long ball prone when he was on the Giants. The reputation proved prescient as Wisler allowed a solo shot to Anthony Santander with one out, tying the contest.
To their credit, the O’s bullpen had kept Tampa Bay off the board in the fifth, sixth, and seventh innings, as Bryan Baker, Cionel Perez, and Dillon Tate retired nine consecutive batters.
Jeffrey Springs took the mound in the seventh for the first time since August of 2021 when he suffered a season-ending knee injury. Springs looked fantastic, putting up a 1-2-3 frame with three punchies; keeping the game knotted at one apiece, and setting the stage for late-inning heroics.
In the eighth, Franco — who collected three hits on his first Opening Day for the Rays — singled to right off Tate before Ji-Man Choi, pinch-hitter extraordinaire, walked against Jorge Lopez who relieved Tate. Arozarena followed by beating out a slow bouncer to third, loading the bases once again for B. Lowe, who was previously 7-for-11 against Lopez. Lowe, however, bounced to second with Franco forced out at home. Yet, Kevin Cash had another trick up his sleeve, pinch-hitting Francisco Mejía for Mike Zunino. Mejía floated a sac-fly to center, plating the go-ahead run.
That made a winner out of Andrew Kittredge, who battled through a high pitch count, yet scoreless, eighth. Kittredge got Ramon Urias to bounce out to second with two on to end the frame.
Finally, tasked with preserving the lead and ending the game, JP Feyereisen took the mound in the ninth and got the job done … at least for 2/3 of the inning. The mustachioed Feyereisen got the first two batters of the frame before the re-bearded pinch-hitter, Rougned Odor, came up with a check-swing single against the shift. Enter Brooks Raley, who was making his debut with the Rays. Raley struck out Cedric Mullins ending the game.
The New What Next
Drew Rasmussen (4-1, 2.84 ERA last season) will get the start on Saturday, pitching opposite of Jordan Lyles (10-13, 5.15 ERA last season).
Drew Rasmussen gave up one run over 3.1 innings with six strikeouts and no walks in his final Spring tuneup against Pittsburgh. He has added a new pitch, a sweeping slider, this spring. Rasmussen held hitters to a .171 average as a starter last season (.239 as a reliever) while posting a 4.5 BB%. He went 1-0 with a 1.08 ERA in three games (one start) against the Orioles last season.
Jordan Lyles owns a 5.24 ERA over 182 career big-league starts between stops with the Astros, Rockies, Padres, Brewers, Pirates, and Rangers. While he was with Texas last season, Lyles surrendered an MLB-high 38 home runs en route to a 5.15 ERA and 5.34 FIP, with a 1.39 WHIP across 180 innings. Be that as it may, Lyles is 0-0 with a 2.81 ERA across three career outings (two starts) against the Rays. He relies primarily on a 93 mph four-seam fastball and an 84 mph slider with two-plane movement, while also mixing in an 80 mph knuckle-curve with exceptional bite and 12-6 movement, a 92 mph sinker, and an 86 mph changeup with arm-side fade. Key Matchups: Francisco Mejia (1-2), Mike Zunino (2-6)
You can read about the series in our preview, while the starting lineup is below.
Rays 4/9/22 Starting Lineup
- B. Lowe 2B
- Franco SS
- Choi 1B
- Arozarena DH
- J. Lowe LF
- Mejía C
- Kiermaier CF
- Walls 3B
- Phillips RF