TAMPA BAY RAYS NOTES:
OUTSHINED IN CHI-TOWN — Despite their pitching staff holding the Cubs to one unearned run on just three hits, the Rays suffered a 1-0 loss at Wrigley Field on Memorial Day, falling victim to a one-hit shutout authored by Cubs starter RHP Marcus Stroman… SS Wander Franco (1-for-4, SB) was responsible for Tampa Bay’s lone hit, a lead-off single in the seventh inning…Rays starter RHP Taj Bradley (5.2IP, 3H, 1R, 0ER, BB, 8SO) did not permit an earned run but was saddled with the loss, becoming the first Rays pitcher to take a loss despite tossing 5.2+ innings without allowing an earned run since Corey Kluber on 6/14/22 at New York-AL (6.0IP, 2R, 0ER).
The contest marked the first time the Rays have been held to one hit or fewer since being no-hit on 5/10/22 at Los Angeles-AL (12-0 L)…Tampa Bay joins Washington, Seattle and Colorado as the only major league clubs with multiple 1-0 losses in 2023 (also: 4/26 vs. HOU).
NEXT MAN UP — LHP Joe La Sorsa made his major league debut yesterday, tossing scoreless seventh and eighth frames without yielding a hit…he became the fourth Ray to make his MLB debut in 2023, joining RHP Kevin Kelly (4/1 vs. DET), RHP Taj Bradley (4/12 vs. BOS) and RHP Braden Bristo (4/13 vs. BOS)…it ties the sixth most debuts by any club this season, including the third most in the AL behind only Oakland (7) and Cleveland (5).
Excluding position players, the Rays have used 26 different pitchers this season, second most in the majors behind Oakland (27)…Tampa Bay has used 48 pitchers since the beginning of 2022, most in MLB in that span, ahead of Oakland (47).
IT STARTS WITH SHANE — The Rays are 10-1 in games started by Shane McClanahan, tying NYY Gerrit Cole (10-2) for the most team wins in games started by a pitcher…the last Rays pitcher that saw the club win 10 of their first 11 starts in a season was Matt Moore in 2013 (10-1).
With a win today, McClanahan will become the first pitcher in Rays history to begin a season 9-0…the last AL pitcher to start 9-0 was HOU Dallas Keuchel in 2017.
A win would also extend his personal winning streak to eight games, tying Blake Snell (8/10-9/23, 2018) for the longest single-season winning streak by a starting pitcher in club history
WHAT A WANDER-FUL WORLD — Wander Franco has multiple hits in five of his last eight games, batting .419 (13-for-31) with two triples, 6 RBI and four walks over that stretch…he also has five stolen bases in that timeframe, bringing his season total to 19, third most in MLB behind OAK Esteury Ruiz (27SB) and ATL Ronald Acuña Jr. (22SB)… on the year, Franco’s 3.5 bWAR lead the majors, ahead of TEX Marcus Semien (3.2).
In addition to ranking second among major league shortstops in average (.298) and OPS (.844), trailing only TOR Bo Bichette (.338 AVG, .913 OPS) in both categories, Franco leads all SS in defensive runs saved (9), according to FanGraphs…he trails only TOR Kevin Kiermaier (10) for most defensive runs saved among all fielders.
Franco has also been one of the majors’ best contact hitters — his 13.1 pct. whiff rate is third lowest in the AL and sixth lowest in MLB.
I AM SPEED — The Rays have stolen 21 consecutive bases without being caught dating back to 5/22, matching the longest such streak in club history…they have stolen 21 consecutive bases on two other occasions: 6/3-27, 2007 and 7/1-3, 2010…on the season, Tampa Bay leads the majors in both steals (73) and stolen base attempts (89) while ranking eighth in stolen base pct. (82.0%)…the Rays have been successful on 35 of their last 37 stolen base attempts overall since 5/14.
Tampa Bay’s 73 stolen bases are the most by any major league club through 56 games since the 2009 Rays (90SB)…prior to that, the last team with 73+ steals through 56 games was the 2003 Florida Marlins (73SB).
The Rays have an MLB-best six players with 6+ SB; Cleveland, Cincinnati and Milwaukee are next closest (4 each)…they also have the most players with 10+ SB (Wander Franco – 19SB, Taylor Walls – 14SB, Josh Lowe – 12SB), ahead of Baltimore (2).
Franco, Walls and Lowe have combined for 45 stolen bases, more steals than the season totals of 24 of the 30 major league clubs.
Per Elias, no club has led the majors outright in both homers and stolen bases at the end of May since the 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers (61HR, 21SB)…the Rays (101HR, 73SB) currently pace MLB in both categories, ahead of Atlanta/Los Angeles-NL (90HR each) and Pittsburgh (58SB), respectively.
INTERLEAGUE RUNDOWN — The Rays 13-6 (.722) mark against NL clubs ties Milwaukee (13-8) for the most Interleague wins in MLB and signals the fourth-best Interleague winning percentage, trailing Miami (7-2, .778), New York-AL (9-3, .750) and Detroit (11-5, (.688)…following a seven-game losing streak from 6/28-8/10, 2022, Tampa Bay has won 15 of its last 21 Interleague matchups dating back to 8/30/22.
Rays hitters are slashing .273/.341/.495 with 35 homers against the NL…they pace the majors in Interleague slugging pct., OPS (.836) and home runs while ranking third in runs per game (5.89).
CLOSE SHAVES — Seventeen of Tampa Bay’s last 25 games have been decided by two or fewer runs, including 14 one-run games in that span…the Rays are 14-11 overall in that stretch, including 6-8 in one-run games and 1-2 in two-run games…this comes after just six of Tampa Bay’s first 31 games were decided by two or fewer runs.
On the season, Tampa Bay is 10-9 in one-run games — only Cleveland (11-14) has more one-run wins among AL clubs.
THE BAY BOMBERS — The Rays have hit a major league-best 101 home runs, tied for the fourth-most long balls through a club’s first 56 games in MLB history (since 1901), trailing only the 1999 Seattle Mariners (110HR), 2020 Los Angeles Dodgers (107HR) and 2019 Minnesota Twins (106HR)…they reached 100 homers in their 54th game of the season, becoming the fifth-fastest team to reach the milestone in MLB history (since 1901).
The Rays have an MLB-best 29 multi-HR games, ahead of New York-AL (28G); they are 24-5 in those contests…this includes 16 games with 3+ homers, most in the majors ahead of Los Angeles-NL (15G); they had 13 games with 3+ HR in 2022.
WRIGLEY WRAP-UP — The Rays and Cubs meet for the second consecutive season after Tampa Bay took two of three games at Wrigley Field from 4/18-20, 2022…Tampa Bay has won three of its last five games against Chicago-NL, outscoring the Cubs, 24-13 (+9) in that span…the Rays are 6-6 at this venue all-time, including 2-1-1 in series play.
Manuel Margot is a .322 hitter (19-for-59) with seven extra-base hits, 6 RBI and an .846 OPS in 16 career games against Chicago-NL…it marks his fourth-highest average against any opponent in his career.
TONIGHT’S STARTER: LHP SHANE McCLANAHAN (8-0, 1.97)
SUGAR SHANE — The southpaw makes his 12th start tonight at Chicago NL including his sixth on the road…his 1.97 ERA is second lowest through
a pitcher’s first 11 starts of a season in club history, trailing Tyler Glasnow in 2019 (1.92)…ranks among AL leaders in wins (1st, 8), ERA (2nd) and strikeouts (7th, 75)…is looking to become the first Rays pitcher to begin a season 9-0.
LAST TIME OUT — McClanahan improved to 8-0 on 5/25 vs. Toronto… he matched a season high with 7.0 innings (also 5/19 vs. MIL), allowing one run on four hits with no walks and seven strikeouts…it marked the second time in his career he has thrown 7.0+ innings in consecutive starts (5/11-5/17, 2022 and 6/26-7/2, 2022)…he has never thrown 7.0+ innings in three consecutive starts.
WRIGLEYVILLE — McClanahan will be making his second career start against the Cubs, both of which will have come at Wrigley Field…he did not factor into the decision on 4/18/22 after throwing 6.0 innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on four hits with no walks and nine strikeouts.
In six starts opposite NL Central opponents, McClanahan is 3-0 with a 0.90 ERA (40.0IP, 4ER), striking out 52 batters against six walks w
while holding batters to a .169 average (24-for-142).
INTERLEAGUE TALK — McClanahan is 7-0 with a 1.93 ERA (65.1IP, 14ER) in 11 career Interleague starts since 5/15/21…min. 60.0 IP, McClanahan’s 1.93 Interleague ERA since the beginning of the 2021 season paces the AL and trails only LAD Clayton Kershaw (1.48) for the MLB lead.
BUCKLE DOWN — He has not allowed a hit this season with runners in scoring position and two outs, limiting batters to 0-for-20 with eight strikeouts…with runners in scoring position, McClanahan is holding the opposition to a .114 (5-for-44) average with 13 strikeouts against one walk.
MR. 400 — On 5/19 vs. Milwaukee, McClanahan’s fourth-inning strikeout of Willy Adames marked the 400th of his career…he became the fastest pitcher in club history to reach 400 strikeouts by both games (63G) and innings pitched (343.1IP), per Elias…the previous record holders for each respective category were Scott Kazmir (68G) and Blake Snell (373.1IP).
COLLECTING W’S—The Rays won each of McClanahan’s first eight starts
of the season…McClanahan’s personal eight-game winning streak since
3/30 is the longest of his career, ahead of a six-game streak from 5/5-6/9,
2022…with a win tonight, McClanahan will match the longest winning
streak by a starter in franchise history, joining Matt Moore (9GS, 9/29/12-
5/19/23) and Blake Snell (9GS, 8/10-9/23, 2018).
WE’VE GOT YOUR BACK — McClanahan’s 7.88 runs of support per 9.0 IP rank third in the majors behind TEX Martín Pérez (9.43) and MIN Joe Ryan (8.26)…last season, his 3.73 run support average ranked 20th among AL qualifiers.
A MODEL OF CONSISTENCY — McClanahan opened the season with eight straight starts of 5.0+ innings with two or fewer earned runs…it marked the longest such streak to open a season in Rays history, ahead of Tyler Glasnow’s seven-start run to open the 2019 campaign…from 10/1/22- 5/8/23, he strung together nine consecutive such starts, the third-longest streak in club history behind Blake Snell (10GS, 8/10-9/29, 2018) and McClanahan’s own 14-start run from 5/5-7/26, 2022.
His 10 starts of 5.0+ IP with two or fewer ER this season are tied with CHC Marcus Stroman for the MLB lead.
CAN’T TOUCH THIS — McClanahan’s 34.7 pct. whiff rate ranks third in the majors behind ATL Spencer Strider (40.2%) and LAA Shohei Ohtani (35.6%)…opponents are swinging at 33.4 pct. of his pitches outside of the strike zone, the 10th-highest chase rate in baseball…McClanahan has also been effective on pitches inside the zone, recording the fourth-highest in-zone whiff pct. in MLB (24.9%), trailing only Strider (30.9%), Ohtani (26.1%) and CIN Hunter Greene (25.3%).
CHICAGO CUBS NOTES:
Cubs vs. Rays
The Cubs and Rays meet for a three-game set at Wrigley Field for the second-straight year as Chicago dropped two-of-three to Tampa Bay at the Friendly Confines, April 18-20 … prior to 2022, the teams had met in 2017 with the clubs splitting two-game sets both at Wrigley FIeld and
Tropicana Field.
THAT WAS A SHOW BY ‘STRO: The Chicago Cubs tonight play the second of three games against the Rays after Marcus Stroman yesterday carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning and went on to toss a complete-game one-hit shutout in a 1-0 victory over Tampa Bay … Miles Mastrobuoni knocked in the game’s lone run with a sac fly in the fourth inning.
Elias reports that Stroman is the first pitcher to toss a complete game one-hitter or no-hitter against the team with the best record in the majors at the time since Roy Halladay did so against the Yankees while with the Blue Jays, Sept. 4, 2009.
Ed Hartig notes that Stroman’s one-hit complete game shutout was just the Cubs’ fourth since 2000, joining: Jon Lieber vs. Cincinnati on May 24, 2001, Kerry Wood vs. Milwaukee on May 25, 2001, and Jake Arrieta vs. Cincinnati on Sept. 16, 2014.
THE PROFESSOR HAS TENURE: Kyle Hendricks is just the 12th Cub to pitch at least 10 seasons for the organization, joining Charlie Root (16 seasons), Guy Bush (12), Rick Reuschel (12), Kerry Wood (12), Bill Lee (11), Carlos Zambrano (11), Mordecai Brown (10), Lon Warneke (10), Bob Rush (10), Fergie Jenkins (10) and Greg Maddux (10).
CURRENT EVENTS: This is the eighth contest (3-4) of a nine-game homestand that started with a series win against the New York Mets (2-1) before a three-game sweep at the hands of the Cincinnati Reds (0-3).
Following this series, the Cubs have Thursday off before a 10-game California swing at the Padres (4 games starting Friday), Angels (3 games starting next Monday) and Giants (3 games beginning June 9).
After the game on April 21, Chicago was 12-7 and 1.5 games behind the division lead … since, the club is 11-23 and enters today 5.0 games behind the division-leading Brewers, sitting at 28-25.
AT THE PLATE: The Cubs have drawn 203 free passes this season, third-most in the majors behind the Dodgers (236) and Padres (224) … that’s contributed to a .333 team OBP that ranks third in the majors and a .748 OPS that is fifth in the N.L.
Following 10 runs on 12 hits May 19 in Philadelphia, the Cubs have batted .189 (53-for-281) with 27 runs scored in their last nine games.
Ian Happ’s .390 OBP is ninth in the N.L. … his 37 walks are fifth-most in baseball.
Dansby Swanson’s 30 walks are tied for ninth in the N.L.
Nico Hoerner’s 12 stolen bases are seventh in the Senior Circuit.
Patrick Wisdom’s 14 homers are fifth in the N.L. while his .556 slugging percentage is eighth.
MULTIPLICITY: Patrick Wisdom on Sunday recorded his eighth career multi-homer effort and his third of the 2023 campaign … since the start of 2021, Wisdom has averaged one homer every 14.30 at-bats, the third-best mark in the N.L. in that span behind Kyle Schwarber (12.75) and Pete Alonso (14.02).
MONTHLY MATTERS: Chicago is 9-17 in May after opening the year with a 14-13 record in March/April … here’s a look at the numbers
2023 AVG OBP SLG R/G BB SO ERA IP ER BB SO
Mar/April .276 .347 .448 5.4 95 224 3.64 239.2 97 91 249
May .232 .319 .380 3.7 108 264 4.98 229.1 127 69 197
STINGY IN VICTORY: The Cubs have allowed two or fewer runs in 16 of their last 17 victories dating to April 14 … the lone win in that span in which Chicago allowed more than two runs came in a 10-4 win vs. the Cardinals on May 10.
PLAYING THE MARGINS: Chicago is 17-15 (.531) in games decided by three or more runs … however, the team is just 6-15 (.286) in games decided by two or fewer runs, the lowest winning percentage in the majors in those contests … that includes a 3-10 (.231) mark in one-run games.
Yesterday marked Chicago’s first one-run victory since April 16 at the Dodgers (3-2) … the team had dropped its last eight one-run decisions prior to yesterday.
SOMETHING OF QUALITY: Marcus Stroman yesterday tossed Chicago’s 25th quality start of the season, tied for the most in the N.L. with Pittsburgh and tied for sixth-most in the majors.
Stroman leads the majors with 10 quality starts this season … teammate Justin Steele is tied for fourth in baseball with eight quality starts.
ABOUT THE RELIEF ARMS: Chicago’s bullpen posted a 2.32 ERA (16 ER/62.0 IP) in 17 games from April 25-May 12 with a 0.97 WHIP, 18 walks and 44 strikeouts … following play on May 12, the Cubs bullpen had posted a 3.42 ERA (53 ER/129.1 IP), the eighth-best mark in the majors.
Since May 13, Chicago’s bullpen has posted an 8.05 ERA (45 ER/50.1 IP) in the team’s last 14 games, pitching to a 2.09 WHIP.
RUMINATIONS REGARDING RUNS: Chicago this season has surrendered two or fewer runs in 22 games, tied for the fourth-most such games in the majors behind only Seattle (23), Tampa Bay (23) and Texas (23).
Chicago’s six shutouts are tied for third-most in the majors behind Toronto (8) and Tampa Bay (8).
The Cubs have allowed 10 or more runs in four of their last 15 games since May 13 after not doing so in the team’s first 38 contests to begin the season.
Starting Pitcher – #28 RHP Kyle Hendricks (0-1, 6.23)
Last Time Out
Kyle suffered the loss in his season debut on May 25 vs. the Mets (3 ER/4.1 IP) … made his first major league start since July 5, 2022 at Milwaukee … became the 12th pitcher in Cubs history to pitch for the Cubs in at least 10 seasons (last Kerry Wood).
Date Opp. Result IP H R ER BB SO PC-S Left
5/25 NYM L, 1-10 4.1 6 5 3 2 5 86-56 1-4, 2 on
2023 Splits and Season Notes
W-L ERA G GS IP H R ER BB SO
Home 0-1 6.23 1 1 4.1 6 5 3 2 5
Road – – – – – – – – – –
AVG vs. LHB: .364 (4-for-11) / AVG vs. RHB: .286 (2-for-7)
Kyle will make his second start of the season, both coming at Wrigley Field … has made 33 career interleague starts, going 9-11 with a 3.29 ERA (70 ER/191.1 IP) … since the start of the 2022 season, has made 10 starts at Wrigley Field, going 2-4 with a 5.02 ERA (29 ER/52.0 IP).
Made five rehab starts with Triple-A Iowa, going 2-1 with a 5.75 ERA (13 ER/20.1 IP) … allowed two runs or fewer in each of his last three rehab starts, posting a 1.69 ERA (3 ER/16.0 IP) during those outings.
Began the season on the 15-day injured list, as he rehabbed from a capsular tear in his right shoulder that he suffered in July 2022.
