Rays get shutout again - Rays: 0, Astros: 5

Rays got shut out for the first time since May last night, so lets see if they can improve on that in game 2 of a potential playoff matchup.

1st Inning

Shane McClanahan got into a bit of trouble, with Jose Altuve and Jeremy Pena opening up the inning with back-to-back singles. Alex Bregman flied out to move Altuve to 3rd base, and Kyle Tucker doubled to score the Astros’ 1st run.

Rays were able to get out of the inning as Isaac Parades snagged an Aledmys Diaz line drive and doubled off Pena at 3rd base to end the Astro’s threat.

Wander Franco worked a walk from Christian Javier, and Harold Ramirez and David Peralta gave two balls a ride to the outfield, but weren’t able to do much else.

3rd Inning

Shane worked through a clean 2nd inning, but got into trouble in the 3rd inning, with Martin Maldonado walking and Jose Altuve single to put runners on 1st and 2nd with nobody out.

Jeremy Peña then took a hanging 2-1 curveball that didn’t have the normal Sugar Shane break to it, and hit it out for a 3 run HR

4-0 Astros. Shane’s only mistake this inning, as he sat down the next three Astro batters, but the damage is done.

4th Inning

Wander Franco worked his 2nd walk of the game to open up the 4th inning, but it was immediately erased as David Peralta lined out to Jose Altuve, and Wander was doubled off 1st.

Kind of the theme so far, Rays offense has been less than underwhelming. Some good ABs, some walks, but overall just not the offense we are used to seeing. Oh and the Rays don’t have a hit yet.

5th Inning

We weren’t expecting Shane to be at full strength, but he at least looked promising since coming back. Wasn’t really the case today, as he hung a curveball earlier, and didn’t have any competitive pitches. Things also appeared to get worse as Shane walked Jose Altuve, then went to 3-0 on Jeremy Peña and started shaking his arm and rotating his shoulder around. He would come out of the game in favor for Shawn Armstrong.

Shawn got two sac flys, and issued one IBB to Kyle tucker, but got out of the inning with only 1 run of damage. Could’ve been much worse facing the heart of the Astros lineup.

5-0 Astros.

Rays’ first hit came in the bottom of the 5th inning from Christian Bethancourt. Issac Parades worked a walk to put two runners on with 2 outs, and Johnathan Aranada up to the plate, but he flied out in foul territory to end the Rays “rally”

6th Inning

Wander Franco got double with 2 outs in the bottom of the 6th inning but nothing came of it.

We got a Shane McClanahan update:

Good news that the injury wasn’t related to any previous shoulder injuries.

Shawn Armstrong, JT Chargois, Javy Guerra, & Colin Poche nailed down the back half of the game, keeping the Houston Astros from scoring any more runs.

In total, they went: 5.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3Ks.

Rays offense in the bottom of the 9th finally showed some life. Wander Franco opened the inning with a single.

After a David Peralta strikeout, both Manuel Margot and Francisco Mejia worked walks to load the bases with only 1 out. This forced Astros Manager Dusty Baker to bring in closer Ryan Pressley, who struck out Ji-Man Choi (on some questionable strike calls) and forced Christian Bethancourt to lineout to end the Rays’ only threat of the game.

Rays get shut out in back to back games for the first time since May 2017.

Really weird game as the Astros scored on 8 hits, but only a xBA of .222. Meanwhile, the Rays had 3 hits on .131 xBA. Shane McClanahan had 8 whiffs, which is fine, but 0 on the curveball.

Rays will try to avoid the sweep tomorrow with Corey Kluber going against Lance McCullers Jr. Game time is 6:40 PM.