ST. PETERSBURG -- The Rays’ rotation was nearly made whole on Monday night, as left-hander Shane McClanahan was activated off the injured list and pitched 3 1/3 innings to start Tampa Bay's 7-6 win over the Orioles at Tropicana Field.
As much as anything he did on the mound, the way McClanahan sought to stay in the game in the fourth inning proved that he is back to feeling like himself.
The left-hander pitched a clean first inning before allowing a 468-foot moonshot to Coby Mayo to lead off the second. He retired the next four batters he faced in order then worked around an infield single in a scoreless third inning.
He gave up a single to Jackson Holliday and a double to Mayo in the fourth, then struck out Gunnar Henderson. With McClanahan having thrown 57 pitches, manager Kevin Cash pulled him in favor of right-hander Casey Legumina, and both inherited runners scored on a ground-ball single by Christian Encarnacion-Strand.
As McClanahan saw Cash stepping out of the dugout, he said, “Stay,” and held out his hand before flashing a thumbs-up in his manager’s direction. But looking to both win the game and keep McClanahan healthy for the long haul, Cash took the ball and handed it to Legumina.
“Obviously, I want to compete, but this team comes first. Getting a win is more important than anything,” McClanahan said afterward. “Obviously, I'll tell them I want to pitch and keep going, but it's out of my hands. We trust those guys.
“I understand it, and [I’m] going to work hard this week to put myself in a better position going forward.”
It was McClanahan’s first start in the Majors since July 30, when he exited his outing against the Rangers in the fourth inning due to left mid-back tightness. McClanahan was placed on the 15-day IL the next day, but everything pointed to a relatively short stint on the shelf.
“I'm happy to be back. That was a really, really gutsy win we just had right there, and shoutout to the bullpen,” McClanahan said. “Happy to be back, but I want to pitch well.”
Last Tuesday, McClanahan pitched three perfect innings in a rehab game for Triple-A Durham and came out of it feeling fine. The Rays knew he would have what Cash called a “condensed” workload in his return to the Majors, and he reached that point with one out in the fourth on Monday night.
Cash’s explanation for pulling McClanahan was simple. He had only thrown 30 pitches for Durham last week, and the Rays typically don’t let a pitcher double his workload like McClanahan nearly did while working on an extra day of rest Monday night.
But Cash was pleased with how McClanahan looked, showing that he’s healthy and ready for the stretch run of the season.
McClanahan allowed three runs on four hits while striking out three batters. His fastball averaged 95.6 mph, exactly the same as his average on the season.
“First and foremost, it's nice to have him back, and I think that was a close version to himself,” Cash said. “He had good velocity on the fastball, good changeups. We just ran into a team that is seeing the ball very well, and they're making adjustments within the at-bat and they drove the pitch count up on him. But I thought Shane overall threw the ball very well.”
McClanahan mostly agreed, saying he felt “fine” and not “too far off from normal.” More than anything, he’s looking forward to getting back to a regular rhythm.
“I'm ready for normal,” he said, smiling. “Just ready to put this little thing behind me and get back in the routine, get back into normalcy and take the ball every fifth or sixth day.”
Right-hander Joe Boyle, who threw 84 pitches over 3 1/3 innings out of the bullpen in Sunday's 10-2 loss to the Orioles after being called up from Triple-A Durham on Saturday, was optioned back to Durham on Monday to make room for McClanahan.
McClanahan is joining a rotation that still has Drew Rasmussen, Nick Martinez, Freddy Peralta and Ian Seymour. The only missing piece is right-hander Griffin Jax, who is on the injured list due to right elbow discomfort.
Jax received an injection to “calm the back of the elbow down” after undergoing testing with Dr. Keith Meister last week, but he has resumed playing catch and should soon make plans for his return to the mound.