The Tampa Bay Rays suffered another heartbreaking loss Saturday, falling 3-2 to Baltimore in extra innings for their third straight defeat. Shane McClanahan delivered five scoreless innings, but Tampa Bay’s bullpen couldn’t hold the lead as the Rays’ AL East advantage remained at three games.
The Tampa Bay Rays fall again in heartbreaking fashion, 3-2 in extra innings, against the Baltimore Orioles on Saturday night.
The team has now lost three games in a row and keeps the New York Yankees close by only three games for the AL East division lead.
Here's what you need to know from the contest.
McClanahan stepped up.
In just his second start since returning from the injured list, Shane McClanahan gave five scoreless frames for Kevin Cash and Tampa Bay. He picked up five strikeouts in the contest and only allowed four hits and one walk.
Despite the loss, this is a positive shift for McClanahan and the Rays' pitching rotation as they look to become fully healthy down the stretch and head into a hopeful postseason run.
McClanahan moves his ERA to 3.10 for the season. He threw only 74 pitches, and that will be his next step in getting back to full form.
The bullpen couldn't hold on.
Following McClanahan, the bullpen started in a great way. Tyler Wells picked up his 14th hold of the season after going two strong innings of scoreless baseball, and it started to feel like A game envisioned by Erik Neander, with this brand-new bullpen shortening contests against opponents.
However, things changed.
In the eighth inning, Kevin Kelly allowed a two-run home run by Samuel Basallo to tie the game and force extra innings.
The Rays couldn't escape as Orioles' Dylan Beavers led off the 10th inning with an RBI double to score the extra runner, stealing the victory for Baltimore.
Not enough opportunities on offense.
The Rays did not give the pitching staff much support in the contest, only picking up eight hits and two runs in the game.
Liam Hicks picked up his 17th home run of the season in the second inning off starter Brandon Young, clearly showing he was a great addition to the squad at the MLB trade deadline.
However, other than that, not much was added to the value from the batting order. The team went 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position, and although they only struck out four times, they hardly found traffic on the base paths.
With the team on a three-game losing streak and having a dreadful homestand following a West Coast trip where they went 9-0, the team surely needs to get things together to ensure they can hold off the New York Yankees for the division lead.
Tampa Bay will look to avoid the series sweep on Sunday, as Nick Martinez will get the start for the Rays. He'll take on former Tampa Bay pitcher Shane Baz for the Orioles. First pitch is scheduled for 1:10 pm Eastern.
