Weird day for Rays as rotation, bullpen aces falter

ST. PETERSBURG -- As the Rays lost their commanding lead in the American League East over the past few weeks, their lineup shouldered much of the blame. They scored three runs or fewer in 12 of their past 21 games entering Saturday, including each of their past five.

They finally found some offense late in Saturday’s showdown with the Orioles. But it wasn’t enough to overcome a rough inning from the rock of their rotation and a strange frame by the anchor of their bullpen.

After ace Shane McClanahan allowed a career-high-tying five runs in the fourth, the Rays clawed back to tie the game, only to see top reliever Pete Fairbanks surrender a run on a pair of hits in the ninth inning of a 6-5 loss before a sold-out crowd of 25,025 at Tropicana Field. Tampa Bay fell to 14-19 in one-run games this season, including 0-5 in July.

McClanahan faulted himself for the defeat, which dropped the Rays (61-41) to an AL-worst 4-13 in July and gave the Orioles (60-38) sole possession of first place in the division for the second time in three days.

“It's just an unfortunate inning. I’m not going to make any excuses,” McClanahan said. “I've got to be better. I'm very frustrated, and this team deserves better than that performance that I just gave them.”

It was a remarkably rare outing for McClanahan. He’d never allowed that many runs in one inning as a starter in the Majors, and he’d permitted five runs in any start only twice before Saturday’s game. On top of that, he entered the day 6-0 with a 2.14 ERA against Baltimore.

“We have never done that against McClanahan,” Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said. “Just really, really good at-bats there off a guy that’s one of the best pitchers in the league.”

McClanahan walked two of the first three hitters he faced during a 22-pitch first inning, but he did what he has done so well this season, calmly working his way out of the jam. He found his rhythm as he retired nine straight hitters and cruised into the fourth inning with the Orioles still hitless.

Then came trouble.

McClanahan allowed a two-out single to Gunnar Henderson, who advanced to second on Randy Arozarena’s throw to third to put two runners in scoring position. Ramón Urías walked to load the bases, working back from a 1-2 count and taking a 3-2 slider that McClanahan said he executed well.

“I think the big at-bat was the Urías at-bat,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “They capitalized off that walk.”

Sure enough, eight pitches later, McClanahan had allowed three consecutive run-scoring doubles: a two-run knock by James McCann on a first-pitch changeup, a two-run hit by Jorge Mateo on a 2-2 fastball and an RBI knock by Austin Hays on a first-pitch curveball.

McClanahan retired Adley Rutschman, the Orioles’ ninth batter in the fourth, to end the threat. But after 86 pitches and a couple of long innings, that was also the end of his frustrating day.

“I'm not going to make any excuses,” McClanahan said. “I've got to make better pitches. I'm pretty [ticked] off.”

Tampa Bay’s bullpen gave the lineup a chance to chip away at Baltimore’s lead, retiring 12 of 13 batters from the fifth to the eighth, and the Rays did exactly that. Having scored at least five runs for the first time since Game 1 of their doubleheader in Kansas City on July 15, the Rays put a tie game in Fairbanks’ hands.

It was the first time Fairbanks worked three consecutive days since May 30-June 1, 2021. But he said he felt good physically, and Cash said he looked “awesome.” The inning didn’t play out in his favor, though.

Leadoff man Adam Frazier smacked a slider outside the strike zone to left field for a 73 mph single. Fairbanks then let loose a 98.6 mph fastball, seemingly bound for McCann’s chest, that bounced off his bat for a bizarre sacrifice “bunt.”

“It was either going to hit him in the chest or hit the bat,” Fairbanks said. “I don't know how it hit the bat, because there's a lot more chest than there is bat.”

Ryan O’Hearn capitalized on the scoring opportunity by slapping a 3-2 slider -- the sixth breaking ball Fairbanks threw him in a seven-pitch at-bat -- to right for a go-ahead, 76.5 mph single.

“Two balls that weren't hit very well that found green. It's part of the game. It's not an ideal part of the game,” Fairbanks said. “I wish it was kind of like Wiffle ball where, if they didn't hit it well, it's an out. But that's not how the game works.”