TAMPA BAY RAYS NOTES:
CITRUS SERIES SPLIT — The Rays fell victim to reigning NL Cy Young winner RHP Sandy Alcantara’s 11th career complete game in a 7-1 defeat to the visiting Marlins on Wednesday afternoon, snapping a club-record eight-game winning streak over Miami… RHP Zach Eflin (4.0IP, 7H, 5ER, BB, 3SO) departed following 4.0 innings of work due to left knee discomfort after yielding five runs, the most he has allowed in 13 career starts at Tropicana Field…the Rays lone tally came on a CF Jose Siri (1-for-3, RBI) RBI-single in the third frame.
It marked the second time this season an opposing pitcher threw a complete game against the Rays; CHC Marcus Stroman accomplished the feat on 5/29 at Wrigley Field…it was the first time an opposing pitcher threw a 9.0+ inning complete game at Tropicana Field since NYY Masahiro Tanaka on 7/24/18.
The Rays have not won back-to-back home games since a five-game winning streak from 5/28-6/9, going 7-13 (.350) at Tropicana Field since 6/10, the fifth-worst home winning percentage in the majors in that span.
SERIES TALK — The Rays are in the midst of a stretch of five consecutive series against clubs that are currently above the .500 mark, having dropped three straight sets against Texas, Baltimore and Miami (2-7 overall) with their next two series coming against Houston and New York-AL …their last series win over a club that entered with a .500+ record was 6/27-29 at Arizona — they are 0-5-1 in their last six such series since, going 4-14 (.222) overall in those games.
Tampa Bay has gone 2-6-4 over its last 12 series dating back to 6/12-15 at Oakland… it opened the year 15-5-1 in series play.
The Rays are one of two teams in the majors to string together multiple 7+ game winning streaks (13G – 3/30-4/14; 7G – 6/3-6/9) and suffer multiple 5+ game losing streaks (7G – 7/1-8; 5G – 7/16-20), joining San Francisco.
JUMBLED UP JULY — The Rays are 5-15 (.250) in July after entering the month with MLB’s best record at 57-28 (.671)…it matches Chicago-AL (also 5-15) for the worst winning pct. in the majors this month…Tampa Bay has not been shut out in July, but it has scored three or fewer runs 12 times, including six games with just one run…only San Francisco (7G) has more games scoring one or zero runs than the Rays in July…Tampa Bay is 4-4 when plating 4+ runs this month compared to 1-11 with three or fewer runs.
Tampa Bay has suffered six losses by 4+ runs since 7/1 after recording a total of six such defeats from the beginning of the season through the end of June.
The Rays are scoring an MLB-worst 3.3 runs per game since 7/1 while ranking at the bottom of the AL in batting average (.210), on-base pct. (.276), slugging pct. (.359) and OPS (.634)…the club record for lowest team batting average over a full calendar month is .222, done twice (Sept./Oct. 2020 & June 2012)…the 2020 Rays hit .215 in July, but played only seven games during the month.
Opposing starters have logged a 3.26 ERA (118.2IP, 43ER) against the Rays since 7/1…a 3.26 ERA would be the 10th-best mark among qualified AL pitchers in July.
Tampa Bay’s club record for worst winning percentage over a full calendar month is .192 (5-21) in June 2003…the club’s worst month since becoming the Rays in 2008 was 9-16 (.360), done in both July 2015 and July 2016.
According to Elias, the lowest winning percentage in July for a team that entered the month with the best record in MLB belongs to the 1893 Brooklyn Bridegrooms, who went 7-20 (.259) in July after starting the season 34-18 (.654)…the Rays need to go at least 2-2 over their next four games to avoid setting a new all-time mark.
TURNING THE CORNER — Multiple Rays hitters have been heating up at the plate as of late…Yandy Díaz is slashing .370/.431/.565 (17-for-46) with three doubles, two homers and 10 RBI over his last 12 games since 7/6…he has recorded two games with 3+ hits over that span — on the season, his 12 games with 3+ hits are tied for third most in the majors behind TOR Bo Bichette and MIA Luis Arraez (14G each).
Jose Siri has hit safely in eight of his 10 games since the All-Star break, batting .303 (10-for-33) with one double, four homers and 5 RBI…his 1.020 OPS in the second half ranks fifth among AL outfielders (min. 40PA)…Siri’s 18 homers since the beginning of May are third most in the AL behind LAA Shohei Ohtani (31HR) and CWS Luis Robert Jr. (23HR).
Brandon Lowe has reached base safely in seven of his last eight games, slashing .276/.344/.517 (8-for-29) with one double, two homers and 3 RBI…has posted a 13.0 pct. strikeout rate since the All-Star break compared to 31.6 pct. prior to the break.
TROUBLE WITH THE CLOCK — The Rays have been charged with an MLB-high 43 pitch timer violations, ahead of New York-NL (39)…the next closest AL team, Cleveland, has committed only 34 violations…Tampa Bay is tied with Pittsburgh (29) for the most pitcher violations, while its 11 batter violations are tied for sixth most in baseball… conversely, the Rays have benefitted from the fewest opponent timer violations (19).
Tampa Bay is 21-16 (.568) when committing at least one pitch timer violation, including three straight losses and a 3-7 mark over its last 10 such games, compared to 41-27 (.603) with no violations.
IT TAKES A VILLAGE — Excluding position players, the Rays have used 31 different pitchers, tied with Cincinnati and Oakland for the most in the majors…they have used 14 starters, tied for fourth most in baseball behind Kansas City (16), Oakland (16) and Boston (15)…Rays pitching has logged 928.2 innings, second most in the majors behind Minnesota (933.0IP).
The Rays have placed 14 different pitchers on the injured list, tied with Boston, Detroit and San Diego for third most in the majors behind Los Angeles-NL (16) and Cincinnati (15), per Spotrac.
Despite this, Tampa Bay’s pitching staff leads the majors in ERA (3.70), opp. AVG (.226), opp. SLG (.376) and opp. OPS (.672) and remains among the best in baseball in several other categories, including WHIP (2nd, 1.18), opp. OBP (3rd, .296) and HR/9.0 IP (3rd, 1.05).
JUICE BOX BATTLE — The Rays make their lone trip of the season to Minute Maid Park for this weekend’s three-game series against the Astros…following a 14-game home winning streak to open the year, Tampa Bay was dealt its first home loss of the season by Houston on 4/25 (5-0) as the Astros claimed two of three games at Tropicana Field from 4/24-26.
In its most recent visit to this ballpark, Tampa Bay dropped two of three from 9/30- 10/1, 2022…the Rays are 4-8 at Minute Maid Park since 2018.
The Rays won eight of nine season series against the Astros from 2010-19, with the lone outlier being a 3-3 tie in 2016, going 35-19 overall in that span…the two clubs did not meet in 2020, but the Astros have won each of the last two season sets, with Tampa Bay going just 4-11 against Houston since the beginning of 2021.
TONIGHT’S STARTER: LHP SHANE McCLANAHAN (11-1, 2.89)
SUGAR SHANE — The southpaw makes his third start in July following a 17-day stay on the injured list…marks his 20th start of the season and his 11th on the road…it marked the longest IL stint of his career (prev. 16 days, 8/31-9/15, 2022)…despite his time on the IL, he still paces the majors wins (T1st, 11), while ranking highly in ERA (5th, 2.89), opponent batting average (9th, .211) and quality starts (T10th, 12)…has pitched to a 7.01 ERA (16.2IP, 13ER) over his last four starts, with the Rays going 1-3 in those games.
LAST TIME OUT — Did not factor into the decision on 7/22 vs. Baltimore after allowing a career-high-tying five runs on five hits and three walks with five strikeouts across 4.0 innings.
Marked his third time allowing five runs in his career and the first since 9/20/22 vs. HOU (4.0IP, 5H, 5ER, 4BB, 3SO).
Prior to his start on 7/22, was 6-0 with a 2.14 ERA (46.1IP, 11ER) in eight career starts against the Orioles.
HOUSTON HOLD UP — In two career starts opposite Houston, both coming last season, McClanahan is 0-2 with a 7.00 ERA (9.0IP, 7ER)…in those starts, he posted a .286 (10-for-35) opponent average while striking out five batters against five walks.
On 9/20 vs. Houston at Tropicana Field, he issued a career-high tying four walks (4x, last: 5/13/23 at NYY).
In three starts against AL West opponents this season, McClanahan is 1-0 with a 5.06 ERA (16.0IP, 9ER)…in 14 career outings against the division, he is 3-3 with a 3.75 ERA (72.0IP, 30ER).
MERRY-GO-ROUND — McClanahan has issued at least one walk in 18 of his 20 starts this season, including multiple walks in four of his last five starts dating back to 6/16.
He has walked 3+ batters in seven starts this year, but has managed to go 4-0 with a 4.41 ERA (34.2IP, 17ER) in those outings.…he allowed 3+ walks in only five of his 28 starts last season.
LIMIT THE DAMAGE — Among pitchers who have thrown at least 100.0 innings this season, McClanahan’s 82 hits allowed are the fourth fewest in the AL, trailing only LAA Shohei Ohtani (79H/120.2IP), BAL Tyler Wells (80H/111.0IP) and NYY Domingo Germán (81H/103.2IP).
Since making his MLB debut on 4/29/21, his 318 hits allowed, spanning 395.2 innings, are fourth fewest among all pitchers (min. 375.0IP), trailing only Ohtani (295H/403.1IP), NYM Max Scherzer (297H/395.1IP) and TOR Alek Manoah (300H, 380.2IP).
WE’VE GOT YOUR BACK — McClanahan’s 6.79 runs of support per 9.0 IP rank second in the majors, trailing ATL Charlie Morton (7.07).
In his career, the Rays are 33-4 when providing him with 3+ runs of support, compared to 11-24 with two or fewer runs of support.
BUCKLE DOWN — With runners in scoring position and two outs, McClanahan is holding the opposition to a .121 (4-for-33) average, the fifth-lowest mark among AL pitchers (min. 30AB).
DIVING DEEPER — McClanahan’s 33.2 pct. whiff rate ranks third in the majors behind ATL Spencer Strider (40.0%) and SD Blake Snell (35.9%)…he has registered a 53.8 pct. whiff rate on his changeup, third highest on any pitch in MLB (min. 150 pitches swung at), trailing only NYM Kodai Senga’s forkball (58.6%) and Strider’s slider (57.2%).
Opponents are batting just .144 against his changeup, fifth lowest on any pitch in the majors (min. 100AB ending with pitch) behind Senga’s forkball (.118), COL Justin Lawrence’s sweeper (.120), MIN Sonny Gray’s sweeper (.124) and TOR Trevor Richards’ changeup (.131).
Opposing hitters have offered at 33.8 pct. of his pitches outside of the strike zone, the seventh-highest chase rate in the AL…opponents have missed on 23.9 pct. of their cuts on his pitches in the strike zone, tied for the fourth-highest in-zone whiff rate in majors behind Strider (29.0%), CWS Lance Lynn (24.8%) and MIL Freddy Peralta (24.2%).
HOUSTON ASTROS NOTES:
No team release available.
