Rays 2, Mariners 6: Another Walkoff Loss

The Rays and their fans would like to wish the Mariners a happy Fathers Day. Hope you had a great day, Dad.

Once again, late inning incompetence spoiled a great start by Shane McClanahan in a hard luck 6-2 extra inning loss. The Rays have now lost six in a row.

Shane McClanahan got the start for the Rays, while Marco Gonzales took the hill for Seattle.

There were some bright spots today. With the Rays suffering a bit of an identity crisis since Glasnow’s injury, their young stud McClanahan showed up big time. Sugar Shane had his best outing of the year, working six strong, giving up three hits and walking one while striking out eight. He had all his pitches working, especially a nasty slider and a heater that sat at 98 and flashed 100 several times.

The lone blemish on his line was a solo homer from Luis Torrenz in the third.

Marco Gonzales was very good himself, working six and one-third, giving up five hits, three walks, and six strikeouts. Most of that pressure didn’t come until late in his outing as he cruised through the first three.

The Rays first mini threat came in the fourth, when a walk to Margot was followed by a looooong flyout by Choi, with former Rays farmhand Jake Fraley showing no love for his old team.

Arozarena followed with a walk of his own, but a sharp grounder from Meadows turned into a 3-6-3 double play.

The Rays finally broke through in the sixth. Wendle singled to center leading off the inning, then moved up to second on a bad pickoff throw by Gonzales. Phillips pushed Wendle up to third on a groundout, and Margot drove him home on a gapper.

1-1 tie.

Scott Servaiss got a little greedy sending Gonzales back out for the seventh, and the Rays made him pay with doubles from Lowe and Zunino, with a bit of an assist from Jake Fraley who was unable to hang on to Lowe’s long fly at the wall, and Shed Long who sort of olé’d Zunino’s liner to left.

2-1 Rays!

The Rays lead was short lived. Marge Thompson came on for the Rays in the bottom of the seventh.

Ty France greeted him by driving Thompson’s second pitch over the wall to left center. 2-2 game.

Frustration mounted through the next several innings, including the Rays failing to move the free runner at all in the top of the tenth.

The Mariners put it away in bottom of the tenth. Diego got the ball and inherited Tyler Trammel as the free runner. Dylan Moore led off and reached on a bunt single, putting runners on the corners. Jake Bauers was next and hit a grounder to Wendle, where the Rays retired Trammel off third on a rundown. An unfortunate walk by Torrenz followed — after it looked like Castillo had a strikeout— to load the bases. Though Diego got Fraley on a flyout to short left, that was just false hope, as Shed Long took a 1-1 hanging slider over the wall in right for a walkoff grand slam.

The Rays limp home to face the Red Sox, who after all this, the Rays only trail by half a game.