Rays 1, Cubs 2: The friendly confines are not friendly

As they say, “The dog days of May are upon us”, and the Rays appear to be in desperate need of some sleep as the offense again proved to be lifeless and a costly blunder in the field resulted in their second consecutive loss.

So in the event that any Rays players read our recaps, I will keep it short and sweet so they can get some rest tonight ahead of the series finale tomorrow.

Shane McClanahan took the mound in search of the first ever 9-0 start in franchise history and was immediately ambushed by Nico Hoerner for a first pitch, leadoff bomb to give the Cubs a 1-0 lead.

Cubs starter Kyle Hendricks would carry that 1-0 lead into the fifth inning prior to surrendering a run to tie the game 1-1. Randy Arozarena singled home Mejia who had singled and later moved to second following a Wander Franco walk. The RBI marked his 40th of the year.

Following the first inning blast, McClanahan settled in nicely and held the Cubs scoreless until the bottom of the sixth inning. After Ian Happ turned a routine pop up that dropped between Lowe and Lowe into a double, Shane retired the next two hitters before surrendering an opposite field single to Mike Tauchman. The Cubs 2-1 lead would stand to be the final score.

McClanahan’s final line on the night, (L, 8-1): 5.2 IP / 2 ER / 6 H / 7 K/ 2 BB

Faucher was good out of the pen, retiring all four batters he faced, striking out a pair in the process. Trevor Kelly and Diekman combined for a rocky, but scoreless eighth inning.

Following a first inning threat in which Wander Franco was thrown out at the plate, everybody but Paredes and Raley recored a hit, but the Rays were unable to string anything together.

Over the course of 162, these games are going to happen. Hopefully tomorrow they can bounce back and finish what has been a strong month of May with a victory. Eflin will get the start against Justin Steele, who is off to a great start in 2023.