TAMPA BAY RAYS NOTES:
FIRST TO 50 — Tampa Bay earned a four-game series split in Oakland with yesterday’s 4-3 win…RHP Taj Bradley did not factor into the decision after working 4.1 innings, allowing three runs (2 earned) on four hits and three walks with a career-high 11 strikeouts…LHP Jake Diekman loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh inning with the score tied at 3-3, but he induced a 4-2-3 double play to prevent the go-ahead run from scoring… RHP Robert Stephenson was called on to record the final out of the inning and struck out LF Brent Rooker to preserve the tie…1B Luke Raley (2-for-4, HR, RBI, 2R) then hit a go-ahead solo homer in the eighth frame.
Taj Bradley recorded each of his first nine outs via the strikeout, becoming the second pitcher in MLB to accomplish the feat this season (TEX Andrew Heaney, 10SO on 4/10) and the first rookie since ATL Spencer Strider struck out the first nine hitters on 7/7/22 (Elias)…the 11 strikeouts were tied for the second most by a rookie in club history and marked the most since Jake Odorizzi (11SO) on 5/9/14 vs. CLE.
Luke Raley recorded his second career go-ahead homer in the eighth inning or later (also: 4/30/23 at CWS).
CALIFORNIA DREAMIN’ — The Rays are on their first of three West Coast road trips this season (also: 6/27-7/2 & 8/14-20)…following a six-game homestand vs. Baltimore (2G) and Kansas City (4G) from 6/20-25, Tampa Bay heads back out west to face Arizona (3G) and Seattle (3G) for the club’s final road trip before the All-Star break.
The Rays are in the midst of a stretch of 17 games in 16 days with no off days — they are 10-4 since that stretch began on 6/3 at Boston.
THE WANDER BOY — In yesterday’s win, Wander Franco tallied his seventh game with 3+ hits, tying Yandy Díaz for the team lead…Franco’s 24 multi-hit games are tied with BOS Masataka Yoshida for second most in the AL, trailing only TOR Bo Bichette (27).
After recording his 20th double yesterday, Franco joined ATL Ronald Acuña Jr. (21 2B, 29 SB) as the only players in the majors with 20+ doubles and 20+ steals.
Over his last 11 road games since 5/16, he is batting .333 (13-for-39) with four doubles, five steals and six walks against just five strikeouts.
BULLISH ON THE ‘PEN — Since yielding eight runs on 6/3 (G1) at Boston, the Rays bullpen has recorded a 1.57 ERA (51.2IP, 9ER) over the last 13 games, holding opponents to a .140 average (24-for-171) and 0.70 HR/9.0 IP with 55 strikeouts against 22 walks.
RHP Jason Adam has five saves with a 0.87 ERA (10.1IP, 1ER) to go with a .121 opp. average (4-for-33) and 13.06 SO/9.0 IP over his last 10 outings since 5/26…the Rays have won each of the last 13 games he has pitched in dating back to 5/19.
RHP Kevin Kelly has not allowed an earned run over his last 13 appearances (9.2IP), producing a 54.5 pct. ground ball rate in that span.
RHP Robert Stephenson has allowed only one hit and one run in six outings (4.2IP) since being acquired by the Rays…RHP Shawn Armstrong has not allowed a run in four games (6.0IP) since his season debut on 6/4.
After pitching to a 7.94 ERA (11.1IP, 10ER) in 13 games with Chicago-AL to open the season, LHP Jake Diekman has a 3.27 ERA (11.0IP, 4ER), a 1.00 WHIP and a .143 opp. average (5-for-35) with the Rays (14G)…Diekman, who has turned in nine straight scoreless outings (7.0IP), has stranded all nine of his inherited runners as a Ray.
BARRELED RAMÍREZ — Harold Ramírez has reached base safely in a season-high-tying 10 consecutive games (also 4/12-24)…during the run, he is slashing .406/.444/.594 (13- for-32) with three doubles, one HR, 7 RBI and three steals…during the month of June, he ranks among AL leaders (min. 30PA) in batting average (3rd, .406), OBP (T7th, .444) and OPS (11th, 1.038).
Since 5/27, Ramírez is 10-for-17 (.588) against left-handed pitchers, the highest such average in the majors in that span (min. 15AB).
Since the beginning of 2022, he has been one of baseball’s most prolific hitters against southpaws, leading the majors (min. 150PA vs. LHP) in batting average vs. lefties (.381) while ranking in OBP (2nd, .421) and OPS (8th, .965).
ROLLING ON THE ROAD — After homering yesterday at Oakland, Manuel Margot is slashing .338/.405/.492 (22-for-65) with seven doubles, 9 RBI and six walks compared to nine strikeouts over his last 21 road games…he has reached base safely in eight of his last nine road games since 5/30, batting .379 (11-for-29) with five doubles.
INTERLEAGUE TALK — Tampa Bay is 14-7 (.667) in Interleague play this season, the fourth-best winning pct. in the majors behind Miami (16-5, .726) and New York-AL/ Toronto (12-5, .706)…the Rays have outscored NL opponents, 117-73 (+44).
Harold Ramírez is batting .339 (21-for-62) with one double, 4 HR and 11 RBI in 17 Interleague games…min. 60 PA, his .339 AVG vs. NL opponents ranks second in the AL, trailing only CWS Luis Robert Jr. (.385)…under the same parameters, Yandy Díaz and Josh Lowe are tied for the third-best Interleague AVG among AL hitters, as both have posted a .333 (20-for-60) mark.
SUSTAINED SUCCESS — After beating Oakland yesterday, Tampa Bay surpassed St. Louis for the third-most regular season wins in MLB since becoming the Rays in 2008…the only clubs with more wins than Tampa Bay (1,317-1,084) since 2008 are Los Angeles-NL (1,397-1,000) and New York-AL (1,376-1,021)…during that span, the Rays are 711-493 (.591) at Tropicana Field.
BALANCED ATTACK — The Rays lead the majors in stolen bases (91) while their 115 HR are tied with Atlanta for second most…per Elias, no club has paced MLB in both home runs and steals over a full season since the 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers, and only 10 clubs have turned the trick in the Modern Era (since 1900)…the Rays have three players with 7+ HR and 15+ SB (Wander Franco, Josh Lowe, Taylor Walls); only five other players in baseball have accomplished the feat this season, none from the same club.
Tampa Bay has six players with 10+ homers, tied with Los Angeles-NL and Atlanta for most in the majors…they have an MLB-best six players in 7+ steals…no other team has more than four (CIN, CLE, MIL, PIT).
The Rays were the first team in MLB history (since 1901) to record 100+ homers and 80+ stolen bases within their first 70 games of a season (113HR, 89SB).
YOU STAY CLASSY, SAN DIEGO — Tampa Bay and San Diego kick off a three-game set tonight at Petco Park…the two clubs last met in 2019, with the Rays taking two of three games from the Padres in San Diego.
Tampa Bay has won nine of its last 10 games against San Diego, highlighted by a nine-game winning streak from 6/24/10-8/13/19…during the nine-game stretch, the Rays outscored the Padres 65-27 (+38) and out-hit San Diego 92-55 (+37)
TONIGHT’S STARTER: LHP SHANE McCLANAHAN (10-1, 2.18)
SUGAR SHANE — The left-hander gets the starting nod in tonight’s series opener at Petco Park, marking his 15th start of the season and his eighth on the road…has earned the win in back-to-back starts, posting a 2.77 ERA (13.0IP, 4ER) in that span…his 2.18 is fourth lowest through a pitcher’s first 14 starts of a season in club history, behind himself in 2022 (1.81), Chris Archer in 2015 (2.00) and Charlie Morton (2.10) in 2019…ranks among MLB leaders in wins (1st), ERA (2nd) and strikeout rate (8th, 27.8%).
LAST TIME OUT — McClanahan improved to 10-1 after working a season-high-tying 7.0 frames in Tampa Bay’s 7-3 win over Texas on 6/11 at Tropicana Field (7.0IP, 4H, 3ER, BB, 5SO, HR)…he allowed all three runs in the third inning on a lead-off solo homer followed by a walk and back-to-back RBI hits…the Rays improved to 7-0 in his home starts, with the lefty going 5-0 with a 1.67 ERA (43.0IP, 8ER) in those outings.
NICE TO MEET YOU — Tonight’s outing will mark McClanahan’s first career appearance opposite San Diego and first regular season appearance against an NL West club…he tossed one inning of scoreless relief in Game 3 of the 2020 World Series against Los Angeles-NL on 10/23/20.
INTERLEAGUE INTEL — McClanahan is 7-1 with a 2.03 ERA (71.0IP, 16ER) in 12 career Interleague starts…this includes a 2-1 mark to go with a 1.82 ERA (24.2IP, 5ER) in his four starts against NL clubs in 2023…since the beginning of 2021, his 2.03 ERA in Interleague play ranks second in the majors (min. 70.0IP) behind only LAD Clayton Kershaw (1.71).
TO THE VICTOR… — McClanahan is the first pitcher in Rays history to win 10 of his first 11 decisions in a season…the feat has not been accomplished since CWS Lucas Giolito and ATL Michael Soroka in 2019 (both 10-1)…with a win today, he would become the first hurler to start a season 11-1 since four pitchers did so in 2016, led by WSH Stephen Strasburg’s 12-0 mark.
The Rays are 12-2 in his starts, the best team record through a pitcher’s first 14 starts in club history (prev. 11-3, Jeff Niemann in 2010)…his 7.40 runs of support per 9.0 IP rank second in the AL behind TEX Martín Pérez (9.08).
ON THE ROAD AGAIN — Since earning the win in each of his first four road starts while pitching to a 1.96 ERA (23.0IP, 5ER), McClanahan is 1-1
with a 4.02 ERA (15.2IP, 7ER) in his last three road outings since 5/13, allowing opponents to slash .267/.353/.517 (16-for-60) with four homers in those games…the Rays are 1-2 in that span.
BUCKLE DOWN — McClanahan is holding the opposition to a .135 (7-for52) average with zero extra-base hits with runners in scoring position…it marks the second-lowest opp. average with RISP among qualified pitchers, behind only TEX Jon Gray (.111)…with RISP and two outs, opposing hitters are just 1-for-23 (.043) against McClanahan, the lowest mark among qualifiers.
NO FREE RIDES — After posting an 11.6 pct. walk rate over his first nine starts, McClanahan has produced a 4.8 pct. walk rate over his last five outings dating back to 5/19…during the five-start run, he has pitched to a 1.93 ERA (32.2IP, 7ER) with a 0.95 WHIP; he ranks sixth among AL starters (min. 5GS) in walk rate and seventh in SO/BB ratio (5.17) over that span… prior to the current stretch, he had issued a career-high-tying four walks in back-to-back starts (5/8-13).
QUALITY IN QUANTITY — McClanahan’s 10 quality starts are tied for third most in the majors…his 12 starts with 5.0+ innings and two or fewer
runs allowed are tied for second most in the majors behind CHC Marcus Stroman (13) — since the beginning of 2022, his 32 such starts are tied for the MLB lead with LAD Julio Urías.
Since 5/19, his three starts of 7.0+ innings are tied with six other pitchers for most in the majors in that span.
DIVING DEEPER — McClanahan’s 33.8 pct. whiff rate ranks second in the majors behind ATL Spencer Strider (39.1%)…he has registered a 52.7 pct. whiff rate on his changeup, the third-highest mark on any pitch in MLB (min. 200 pitches thrown), trailing only NYM Kodai Senga’s forkball (59.8%) and Strider’s slider (55.8%).
Opposing hitters have offered at 33.5 pct. of his pitches outside of the strike zone, the ninth-highest chase rate in the majors.
He averages 96.7 mph on his four-seam fastball, the fastest mark among all MLB left-handed pitchers (min. 500 fastballs thrown).
SAN DIEGO PADRES NOTES:
Friars win series vs. Guardians but drop series finale 8-6
- Starter Ryan Weathers went just 1.2 innings and allowed 6 runs (earned) on 7 hits with 2 SO…he was saddled with his 5th loss.
- Manny Machado hit his 65th career homer as a Padre at Petco Park, which made him the leader for home runs hit in downtown San Diego as a Padre…he ties with Adrian Gonzalez’s 65 HRs hit overall (hit 57 as a Padre, 7 as a Dodgers, and 1 as a Met) for the most homers hit of any player at Petco Park overall.
- With last night’s loss, the Padres ares still in search for their 1st series sweep of the season in a series longer than 2 games (won both games of their 2-game series vs. the Giants in the Mexico City series)…2023 is the 1st time since ’18 that the Friars went this deep into a season without any sweeps of 3+ games (had no sweeps of 3+ games at all in 2018).
- SD has won 5 of their last 7 games and 6 of their last 9…in their last 9 since June 5, they’ve scored 5.4 runs per game and have out-scored opponents 49-31.
Roster Moves
- Prior to tonight’s game, the Padres placed LHP Tom Cosgrove on the 15-day IL with a left hamstring strain, optioned LHP Ryan Weathers to Triple-A El Paso, reinstated RHP Nabil Crismatt from the IL, and recalled LHP Ray Kerr from El Paso.
Mr. Padre, forever in our hearts
- On this date in 2014, “Mr. Padre” Hall-of-Famer Tony Gwynn passed away at the age of 54…the hearts and thoughts of the Friar Faithful are with the Gwynn family on this day.
Friar bullpen since May 1
- The Friar ‘pen has the 2nd best ERA since the start of May with a 2.41 ERA (trailing just the Giants 2.36 ERA)…their .233 opponent average overall this year is the 4th lowest clip in MLB behind the Twins (.229), Yankees (.225), and Rays (.223).
Today’s attendance…is in • The Padres welcomed 41,864 fans last night for Thursday night’s contest against the Guardians, making it the Friars’ 25th sellout of the season…the Petco Park single season sellout record was 26, set last season in 2022…the 25 sellouts also do not include the 2 “home games” in Mexico City vs. SF.
- The Padres have seen 1,380,285 fans at Petco Park so far in 2023, not including the 39,244 in the 2 Mexico City series games vs. the Giants…in their 34 Petco Park games, they’ve averaged 40,596 fans per game, the 2nd-highest home attendance average behind just the Dodgers’ 47,762 fans per game.
Padres host Rays
- The Rays have won 8 of the last 9 matchups against the Padres since the 2013 season, which stands as the Rays’ best mark against any opponent and the Padres’ worst record (1-8, .111) versus any opponent during that span.
- Of the Padres 6 games played at home against the Rays, the Friars have won just 1 of them (which was also the last game they played against them at home on August 14, 2019).
XBH percentage
- The Padres rank 3rd in MLB this season in percentage of their hits going for extra-bases at 40.7%…the Rays rank 2nd with a 40.8%, and the Dodgers lead the Majors with a 44.7%…the MLB average is 36.0%.
STARTER – YU DARVISH 11
Darvish takes his career 1.54 ERA into
7th career start vs. TB
36-year-old right-hander Yu Darvish takes the mound in search of his 3rd consecutive winning decision tonight vs. TB, the club he has the lowest career ERA against (1.54) in 6 career starts…the only other club he has a sub-2.00 ERA against is the Chicago Cubs (1.71 ERA in 4 career starts)…he has 5 quality outings in his 6 career starts vs. TB, which all came from 2012-17 as a Texas Ranger. His 1.54 ERA is the 2nd-lowest all-time among pitchers who have made at least 5 career starts vs. TB, behind only Chuck Finley (1.12)…it’s ahead of James Shields (1.67), Kevin Appier (1.86) and Chris Carpenter (1.99)…his 52 strikeouts vs. TB across his 1st 6 starts trail only Pedro Martinez (65) and Gerrit Cole (57) for more K’s through their 1st 6 career starts vs. TB. Darvish hits the century mark with 100 career wins Last Fri @ Coors Field, Darvish earned his 100th career win, his 5th of the season and his 2nd in a row behind 100 pitches across 5.1 IP of 4-run, 5-hit ball in SD’s 9-6 victory… he became the 7th player to win their 100th career game in a Padre uniform, and the first since Shawn Estes in 2008…the others are Rollie Fingers in 1980, Goose Gossage in 1986, Ed Whitson in 1989, Bruce Hurst in 1989 and Eric Show in 1990. Darvish in search of 3rd consecutive 100+ pitch outing Yu tossed a season-high 115 pitches across 7.0-shutout IP of 2-hit ball on Sat, June 3 vs. CHC…it was also his 26th career outing with 115+ pitches, which are T-8th-most among all ML pitchers since his debut 2012 season…among the 9 pitchers with at least 26 outings throwing 115+ pitches, he joins Verlander as the hurlers to have a 115+ pitch outing in ’23… he’s thrown 100+ pitches in 125 career games, which are 19th-most in the Majors since ’12.
Expect the unexpected
Opponents are currently hitting .230 vs. Darvish, which is almost exactly what his xBA is at (.228)…it ranks in the 67th percentile this season, and his career xBA is .221.
Petco Park’s finest
There have been 13 pitchers who have made at least 35 career starts in Petco Park history (including the Postseason), and he is the only pitcher with a sub-1.00 WHIP (0.94) and sub- .200 opp. AVG (.196)…he also ranks 4th in ERA (2.93) in downtown SD history.
