ST. PETERSBURG -- The Rays got back on track and finished the month of May on a high note with a 5-2 win over the Angels on Sunday afternoon that secured their sixth straight series victory at Tropicana Field.
Starter Shane McClanahan put together another strong start, holding the Angels to just one run on four hits over five innings. Jonathan Aranda capped his incredible month by launching his 11th homer of the season in the first inning. And after failing to capitalize on a couple bases-loaded opportunities in Saturday’s lopsided loss, the Rays squeezed three runs out of similar situations in the series finale.
McClanahan breezed through five innings on 70 pitches to finish the month with a 4-0 record and 1.41 ERA over six starts, working at least five innings each of those six May outings. He had plenty of help from his infield defense, including two highlight-reel plays by shortstop Taylor Walls and third baseman Junior Caminero.
With two outs in the third, Walls ranged into the hole to snag a Vaughn Grissom grounder and made an off-balance, on-target throw to first baseman Jonathan Aranda to end the inning. And Caminero started the fifth inning by making a full-extension stop on a grounder from Logan O’Hoppe, springing to his feet and making a strong throw to first.
The Rays left 12 runners on base on the day after going just 3-for-14 with runners in scoring position, but they scraped together enough offense to support a stellar pitching and defensive performance.
Aranda got things started by blasting a low-and-inside pitch from Angels starter Jack Kochanowicz into the right-field seats in the first inning. It was nothing out of the ordinary for Aranda, who entered the day leading the Majors in average (.379), on-base percentage (.467) and OPS (1.008) in May.
The Rays got to Kochanowicz again in the third. Aranda and Richie Palacios walked, then Caminero legged out an infield single to load the bases with nobody out. Victor Mesa Jr. smacked an RBI single to center with one out, and Cedric Mullins walked to score another run.
With two outs, Walls lofted a fly ball to deep left field against left-hander Mitch Farris, a moonshot bound for 162 Landing beyond the low left-field wall. But former Ray Jose Siri tracked it back and reached over the cut-out fence to reel in the ball to rob Walls of a grand slam.
The Angels pulled within a run in the seventh, when O’Hoppe swatted a homer off the left-field pole, but the Rays immediately answered with a pinch-hit RBI single by Ben Williamson and a bases-loaded walk by Yandy Díaz.