Tyler Glasnow was dominant across seven strong innings for Tampa Bay, while the batters eked out just enough offense to put the Rays on the winning side of the ledger, as they defeated the Nationals on Tuesday, 3-1.
The Rays moved to 16 games over .500 for the first time this season and they enter play Wednesday 1.5 games ahead of Boston in the American League East.
Tyler Glasnow got the start against Washington and worked at least seven innings for the fourth time in five starts, striking out 11 and walking just one on 114 pitches (77 strikes, 68% K%). The right-hander reached double digits in punchouts for the seventh time this season and collected 27 swings and misses (35% SwStr%), which tied the most by a Tampa Bay pitcher in the pitch-tracking era. The only damage Glasnow allowed came in the third inning after Starlin Castro singled against the shift to right-center to open the frame. Then with one out, Kyle Schwarber walked before Trea Turner singled to right-center, scoring Castro to tie the game at one apiece. Still, Glasnow got Juan Soto to ground into a 4-6-3 double play, limiting damage and ending the inning. This season, Glasnow has performed to a 2.57 ERA, a 0.93 WHIP, and a 4.5 K/BB across 84 innings.
Glasnow was also helped by his defense. In his final inning of work, Josh Bell doubled to right. Then with one out, Josh Harrison singled to left, and as Bell attempted to score from second, Randy Arozarena threw a bullet home. Mike Zunino handled a high bounce and tagged the Nationals’ first-baseman for the second out of the inning.
Meanwhile, Tampa Bay got off to a good start before the bats went relatively quiet. Manuel Margot led off the game by crushing 3-1 pitch into the left-field seats off Jon Lester — his sixth home run of the season.
And while they didn’t have much to show for their effort against the wily veteran southpaw, the Rays made Lester work, putting runners on base in every inning until he exited the contest with two outs in the fourth. They forced 91 pitches out of Lester through 3-2/3 innings.
With the game knotted up at one apiece, Tampa Bay took the go-ahead lead in the fifth inning against reliever Wander Suero, who had finished the fourth for Lester. Austin Meadows and Randy Arozarena walked before Mike Brosseau blooped a double that bounced past Juan Soto in right, allowing Meadows to cross the plate. Suero’s night was over.
Left-hander Sam Clay entered, and after Joey Wendle struck out, Mike Zunino lashed an RBI base hit to center, capping the scoring.
All told, the Rays left 11 runners on base against Nationals and weren’t able to take full advantage of eight walks and a hit batter. Still, the offense did just enough to get the Rays one game closer to the 40 win mark on the season.
The New What Next
The Rays will go for their 40th win of the season with left-hander Shane McClanahan (2-1, 4.11 ERA) on the mound. He’ll pitch opposite Patrick Corbin (3-5, 6.28 ERA).
Shane McClanahan allowed four earned runs on five hits and two walks while striking out six across 3-1/3 innings on Wednesday against the Yankees. McClanahan ran into early trouble when he surrendered a first-inning two-run homer to the fourth batter of the game. He ran into trouble again two innings later, and he ultimately left the game with one out in the fourth inning with the bases loaded. McClanahan had shown the ability to work deeper into games prior to this start after he recorded at least 15 outs in each of his last three turns. McClanahan has a 4.11 ERA with 38 strikeouts and nine walks 30-2/3 innings into his big-league career.
Patrick Corbin allowed four runs on six hits and two walks while striking out four across 5-1/3 innings against Atlanta on Thursday. Corbin has now surrendered at least three runs in each of his last four outings. He began Thursday’s contest by tossing five scoreless frames before he relinquished four runs to begin the sixth inning. The left-hander now boasts a 6.28 ERA and a 1.52 WHIP across 57-1/3 innings on the season (11 starts). He relies primarily on an 80 mph slider with two-plane movement, a 92 mph four-seam fastball with natural sinking action, and a whiffy 92 mph sinker, while also mixing in an 81 mph changeup with cut action. Corbin has never faced the Rays. Key Matchups: Manuel Margot (7-24, 3 2B, 3B, 3 RBI), Austin Meadows (3-6, 2B, 2 RBI)
You can read about the series in our preview, while the starting lineup is below.
Rays 6/9/21 Starting Lineup
- Margot RF
- Díaz 1B
- Meadows LF
- Arozarena DH
- Brosseau 3B
- Mejía C
- Lowe 2B
- Walls SS
- Phillips CF
- McClanahan LHP