Twins: 9, Rays: 1 - Old friend alert!

After a series opening win with Klubot, the Rays look to secure a series win against old friend Chris Archer & the Minnesota Twins.

Shane McClanahan started the game with a flyout of Jorge Polanco and a strikeout of Carlos Correa, but a running fastball to Kyle Garlick got out of the park to give the Twins an early 1-0 lead

I would not stop making Garlick puns if he was on my team.

Chris Archer looked good, with two groundouts, two walks and a strikeout for the 1st inning, but no runs.

Top of the 2nd for Shane was much better, striking out Gary Sanchez, Miguel Sano, and Ryan Jeffers. All three strikeout pitches were different, with Shane striking out Sanchez looking on a slider, Sano swinging on a changeup and Jeffers swinging on a curveball.

Bottom of the 2nd inning Chris Archer struck out Kevin Kiermaier, and eventually got Manuel Margot to line out, but only after a 10 pitch at bat, and the lineout was a 100.6 MPH screamer. With two outs, that brought up Taylor Walls up, and on a 1-1 count launched his first MLB HR!

1-1 Rays!

Shane McClanahan ran into a little bit of trouble in the top of the 3rd inning. He struck out 2 (including a GORGEOUS strikeout to Jorge Polanco):

But walked Trevor Larnach Shane got Carlos Correa to 2 strikes, but he hit a opposite field grounder, opposite of the shift. With two outs, Larnach was moving on contact, and now we have runners on 1st and 3rd base with 2 outs, and Kyle Garlick up to bat. Shane McClanahan fell behind Garlick 3-0, but then came back and got three strikes in a row to end the Twins threat, and rack up his SEVENTH strikeout through 3 innings.

In the bottom of the 3rd inning, Yandy Diaz walked, because I’m convinced him and Ji-Man Choi know the strikezone the best, and Josh Lowe doubled to put runners on 2nd and 3rd base with two outs, but Randy Arozarena grounded out to end the rally and keep the score 1-1.

Chris Archer would be done after 4 innings, and the Rays’ former ace did pretty good! 4.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R (1 ER), 3 BB, and 4 Ks. Cody Stashak took over for Archer, and sat down Zunino, Lowe and Franco to keep the score at 1-1 at the end of 5 innings.

At this point, Shane McClanahan was through 5 innings on 85 pitches. Not going to lie, I was pretty surprised to see him come back out for the 6th inning. Not really because this is the third time Shane would be facing the Twins’ lineup, but really because of pitch count and overall health. If Shane McClanahan is going to be the Rays’ ace this year, and all signs are are pointing to YES, then he needs to flip over a lineup 3rd time.

So like I said, I don’t hate the decision, but its very un-Raysy. Carlos Correa singled on another ground ball to put a runner on, and Kyle Garlick up to bat. Just to recap on the recap:

1. Top 1st inning: Kyle Garlick connects on a 97 MPH fastball from Shane McClanahan
2. Top 3rd inning: Kyle Garlick strikes out swinging on a slider from Shane McClanahan

Brings us to the 6th inning, with Kyle Garlick up for the third time. Shane started with a chagneup in the dirt for ball 1, a slider in the dirt for ball 2, and then a slider that didn’t slide enough and Kyle Garlick was all over it.

Twins take a 3 -1 lead and that would be the end of the night for Shane Mclanahan. His final night: 5.0 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, and a career high 11 Ks.

J.P. Feyereisen took over and put up a zero to stop the runs, and keep the Rays within striking distance, although now down 3-1. Still, you have to like your chances for the Rays offense to score 3 runs in 4 innings right? RIGHT?!

Well, yes, unless you have to face Jhoan Duran, who struck out 5 of the next 6 Rays batters over two innings, hitting a max of 101. MPH on his fastball. The only batter who did not strikeout, grounded out.

In the top of the 7th inning, with Matt Wisler pitvhing, the Twins opened the inning with a baserunner via a Taylor Walls throwing error, who gets to 2nd base now with nobody out. A double by Trevor Larnach scores the runner from 2nd and increases the Twins' lead to 4-1.

A single by Max Kepler would make it 5-1 in the 7th inning.

Remember when I said I felt good about the Rays offense scoring 3 more runs? Yeah, that feeling is dwindling quickly as Rays' bats continue to be ice cold in this game. No runs in the 7th or 8th inning for the Rays.

Javy Guerra was the Rays' pitcher for the 9th inning, and the bullpen, who was stellar up to this game, continued to implode. A double by Jorge Polanco, and a single by Carlos Correa scored Polanco to give the Twins a 6-1 lead. Max Kepler came to the plate, and hit a moonshot that just cleared the right field railing.

8-1 Rays, and it's not getting any better.

Gary Sanchez doubled with two outs, and moved to third base on a Luis Arreaz single, which also ended Javy Guerra's night. Brooks Raley replaced him, but gave up the RBI single to Ryan Jeffers.

Rays' go into the bottom of the 9th inning with the Twins leading 9-1. Yeesh.

Rays' bullpen: 4.0 IP, 10 H, 6 R (4 ER), 0 BB, 3 Ks.

That would be the final, as the Rays offense continued to be iced.

Rays will look to bounce back tomorrow afternoon for the series win.

Newlu acquired Chris Paddack is on the bump for the Twins, with TBD for the Rays, but I would guess it's a Josh Fleming bulk. Gametime is 1:10 PM.