ST. PETERSBURG — When Rays supervisor Kevin Cash and head athletic coach Joe Benge made their option to the mound within the fourth inning Thursday night time, Shane McClanahan made his case to remain within the recreation.
But along with his again tight, velocity down and extension restricted, McClanahan knew the proper factor to do. Tampa Bay’s ace walked off the mound alongside Benge, and his early exit was one among many irritating moments within the Rays’ 6-5 loss to the Royals at Tropicana Field. It was solely the second time this season they’ve misplaced when main after seven innings.
McClanahan was formally recognized with mid-back tightness. Cash stated the Rays will know extra about his standing within the coming days, after he receives remedy on his again, however McClanahan is optimistic it received’t be an ongoing difficulty.
“I don’t want to speculate. It’s still pretty early, but the leading notion is we don’t think it’s anything severe,” McClanahan stated. “Just maybe more of a precautionary move just to maybe limit whatever it is. Hopefully, I’m not missing any starts, and we get this thing hammered out in a couple of days.”
McClanahan’s fastball averaged 95.1 mph on Thursday, down from his season common of 96.7 mph. He displayed his typical velocity early on, operating his heater as much as 97.2 mph within the first inning and throwing a handful round 96 mph within the third.
But his final fastball to Dairon Blanco clocked in at 93.6 mph, and he threw a four-seamer to Drew Waters earlier within the inning that registered at 90.9 mph, in response to Statcast. He solely topped 94 mph as soon as within the fourth.
That was sufficient of a warning signal for Cash and pitching coach Kyle Snyder to heat up reliever Kevin Kelly in a rush, and Kelly was busy on the bullpen mound as McClanahan retired Blanco for the second out of the fourth. Cash and Benge jogged out of the dugout to go to McClanahan, who wished to maintain pitching however finally gave option to Kelly.
McClanahan stated he felt “a little tightness” main as much as his final begin, nevertheless it subsided by the point he took the mound in San Diego. He couldn’t shake it on Thursday, nonetheless, and he acknowledged he might need adjusted his supply in a method that diminished his stuff.
“Pretty frustrated that I had to come out of the game. I understand the decision,” McClanahan stated. “I felt like I could have kept going, but it is what it is. It’s up to myself and the training staff now to try to get this thing right.”
Last yr’s All-Star Game starter for the American League, McClanahan has been among the best beginning pitchers within the Majors this season. He owns baseball’s highest win whole (11) and lowest ERA (2.23) to associate with 100 strikeouts in 93 innings.
“Appreciate him, certainly, wanting to go out there and to continue to compete,” Cash stated. “But I think in those moments, we probably need to err on the side of caution and make sure that we do right by him.”
Waters put the Royals forward, 3-2, with a seventh-inning homer off Rays reliever Robert Stephenson. Tampa Bay answered with three runs of its personal by way of a Francisco Mejía residence run and a go-ahead, two-run single by Randy Arozarena.
The Royals made it a 5-5 recreation within the eighth on Waters’ two-run single off Jason Adam. With high high-leverage reliever Pete Fairbanks pitching the ninth, Kansas City walked and ran its option to the profitable run.
Maikel Garcia labored a leadoff stroll then instantly stole second and third — two of the Royals’ seven steals on the night time, tying the document for essentially the most allowed by the Rays in a single recreation. Fairbanks credited Royals bench coach Paul Hoover, a former Rays coach, for figuring out the chance to steal towards him.
“I know that we have big swing-and-miss stuff there at the back end of the bullpen, but we put ourselves a little bit behind by giving those extra 90 feet,” Cash stated.
Fairbanks struck out the following two hitters and acquired MJ Melendez to hit a 71.9 mph grounder towards first base. But the ball rolled into a tough spot. Fairbanks lined the bag whereas first baseman Yandy Díaz went for the ball, and Díaz’s late flip landed behind Fairbanks as Melendez reached safely and Garcia scored.
“It’s a frustrating way to lose a ballgame, but we’ll get back at ’em tomorrow,” Fairbanks stated. “It is what it is. It wasn’t very well hit. It was in the right spot, and that cost us.”
Content Source: www.mlb.com