Rays 6, White Sox 3: Shane McClanahan continues dominant stretch

The Rays returned home Friday night to open up a three game set with the White Sox following a four game trip to Texas against the Rangers.

Friday night’s game opened up a six game home stand during which the Rays will play three games against both the Sox and Cardinals.

After winning the last two games to split the four game set with the Rangers, Shane McClanahan took to the mound in hopes of extending the Rays winning streak to three games and the team’s overall record to a season high ten games over .500. He would do just that behind yet another impressive start.

After striking out the side to start the game, McClanahan received some immediate run support in the form of a four run first inning. The offense got things started after a one out double by Yandy Diaz. After a walk to Margot, Choi got the scoring started with a sac fly to score Diaz. Harold Ramirez would follow with an RBI single scoring Margot.

Then, Randy Arozarena ripped a two-run blast to make it a 4-0 game! The longball was his 6th of the year.

The White Sox would get one run back in the 3rd on a ground ball to Yandy Diaz that resulted in a force out at second. Jose Abreu would tack on another run for the Sox in the 6th inning with a solo shot off McClanahan.

With a 4-2 lead entering the bottom of the 7th inning, Ji-Man Choi would restore the four run lead the Rays had built in the first with a two-run double.

McClanahan’s final line was a thing of beauty yet again as he tossed 6 innings, struck out 8, and walked none. He surrendered only the pair of runs and earned his 6th win of the year. The outing dropped his ERA to 2.10. He now has 89 strikeouts in 64.1 innings.

Going back to May 11th, McClanahan has now allowed only 4 earned runs in his last 32 innings of work. During this stretch he has struck out 42 opposing batters and walked only 3. Unreal stuff from Shane.

For the White Sox, Davis Martin got the start and actually rebounded well after the shaky first and was able to make it though 5.1 innings of work—the final 4.1 innings were shutout.

At the plate for the Rays, Yandy Diaz found himself on base four separate times with a double and three walks. Arozarena went 2-4 with 2 RBI and Ji-Man Choi finished with 3 RBI. Harold Ramirez also added a pair of hits and an RBI. On the mound, Wisler and Faucher both tossed a shutout inning.

In the 9th, in true Rays fashion as of late, things got interesting. Shawn Armstrong was called upon to shut the door in the 9th and failed to do so, allowing one run and eventually leaving with 2 outs and the bases loaded.

With two outs, Kevin Cash went to Colin Poche to limit the damage and get the final out. Facing Luis Robert, Poche was able to get the job done with a strikeout.

With the win, the Rays record moved to 31-21.