McClanahan only goes 4 innings in 'frustrating' start vs. Halos

ANAHEIM -- The Rays dropped Friday’s series opener to the Angels, 4-3, finding a rare speed bump in a venue that had previously been a historical safe haven for Shane McClanahan.

McClanahan entered the night boasting a career 1.29 ERA against the Angels but hadn’t thrown at Angel Stadium since May 11, 2022, serving as a stark reminder that the road back from a two-and-a-half-year layoff -- including a second Tommy John surgery that wiped out his 2024 season and nerve-related issues that sidelined him for 2025 -- is rarely linear.

The 29-year-old southpaw threw four innings, surrendering eight hits and four earned runs while walking one and striking out seven on 74 pitches. While his elite putaway stuff was on display early -- notching two strikeouts in the opening frame -- the disciplined Angels lineup quickly adjusted. By laying off secondary pitches in the dirt, Los Angeles forced McClanahan into standard fastball counts and capitalized.

"I’ve just got to pitch better," McClanahan said. "It's frustrating. These last couple go-arounds have not gone my way. As much as I want to say that if I compete the way I compete and trust, good things will happen, I want to start seeing some good results. I've let a lot of people down in this room, this organization. Got to pitch better."

That grit was tested early in the bottom of the second inning when a comebacker off the bat of Jose Siri deflected off McClanahan's foot, causing a brief injury delay. He fought to stay out there, escaping a bases-loaded jam in the frame and grinding through the fourth.

However, the definitive damage occurred in the bottom of the third. Oswald Peraza led off with a double against a 95.8 mph four-seamer, later scoring on a two-out single by Nick Madrigal. Logan O'Hoppe followed immediately, lacing an RBI single to left field on an elevated changeup to extend the Angels' lead. Postgame, McClanahan offered no excuses for the tough stretch, which mirrored his previous start on June 6 in Miami, when he allowed four runs on eight hits in five innings.

With the Rays trailing 4-2 after four, the coaching staff opted to protect their ace and hand the ball to the bullpen, despite McClanahan's vocal campaign to keep throwing.

"That's what I wanted -- the ball," McClanahan said of the conversation. "Let me go back out there. Let me go compete. Ultimately, [Kevin] Cash and [Kyle] Snyder have the final say. I'll listen to them. I’ll never be disrespectful and [I] trust them to make the right decision for myself and this team and if I wasn't the right guy to have out there to put us in the position to win, then I fully respect that. And I want that guy out there."

Once McClanahan was lifted, the game transformed into a test for the bullpen. Mason Englert took over in the fifth and ate four crucial innings of scoreless relief to hold the line and give the offense a chance to counter.

That pushback was spearheaded by Jonathan Aranda. In the fifth, after Chandler Simpson walked and Nick Fortes reached on a fielding error by shortstop Zach Neto, Taylor Walls loaded the bases with a bunt single. Aranda broke the shutout, lashing a sharp two-run single to left. He delivered again in the ninth, lacing an RBI single off Mitch Farris to pull the Rays within one and put the tying run at third.

"We kept fighting the entire game and we showed resiliency," Aranda said through interpreter Kevin Vera, attributing his multi-hit night to mechanical work behind the scenes. "To study yourself and analyze yourself as a player, you’ve got to look through your at-bats. … [I’m] very happy that I was able to make those adjustments."

The late-inning rally finally fell short when Ryan Zeferjahn entered in relief to strike out Cedric Mullins, leaving the bases loaded and sealing the 4-3 defeat.

That late-game fight was backed by stellar defense, including a spectacular running catch by Simpson to rob Jo Adell of extra bases in the eighth. Yet the clubhouse also had to navigate some bizarre variables, namely an eighth-inning technological hurdle when the stadium's Automated Ball-Strike challenge system went entirely offline just as Ben Williamson attempted to challenge a called third strike.

"Unique. I had never seen a 'call stands.' I don't think the umpires had," manager Kevin Cash said. "We were told that the replay came back on, but I don't think ABS ever came back on."

Despite the confusion, Williamson took the moment in stride.

"That's part of the game," Williamson said. "Last year we wouldn't even have had this discussion, so it didn't go my way, but there was [definitely] a little bit of confusion with that."