GameDay Preview: Shane McClanahan Looks to Cool Off Red-Hot Orioles
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Hello push, meet shove. It's come to that time of the year now, and the Tampa Bay Rays desperately need a win over the Baltimore Orioles on Saturday at Tropicana Field.
And they're hoping to get that thanks to another quality start from ace left-hander Shane McClanahan.
The 25-year-old is 10-5 with a 2..24 ERA on the season, but he has lost his last two starts against Cleveland and Detroit, giving up a career-high five runs against the Guardians and four earned runs against the Tigers last Saturday. He hasn't been terrible — Cleveland especially got to him with a lot of soft-contact bloop hits — but he also hasn't been overpowering, either. He had only three strikeouts against the Tigers.
Saturday's game is critical for the Rays, because the Orioles led the season series 9-8 with two games to go. Tampa Bay needs to win them both to win the series, which could be huge in determining a potential playoff spot. Head-to-head is the first tie-breaker this year, with no extra game is two teams end with the same records.
McClanahan is 4-0 with a 2.36 ERA in six career starts versus the Orioles, and has allowed only two earned runs in 14 1/3 innings in three starts at Tropicana Field.
Here's his pregame meeting with the media on Friday afternoon:
Baltimore's DL Hall is making his major-league debut on the mound on Saturday. He is the 12th Oriole — and seventh pitcher — to make his MLB debut this season for the young team. The 6-foot-2 23-year-old struck out 114 batters at Triple-A Norfolk, and averaged a stunning 14.66 strikeouts per nine innings. He is Baltimore's No. 4 overall prospect, according to Baseball Pipeline.
Here's how to watch Saturday's game between the Rays and Orioles, along with starting lineups.
How to watch Orioles at Rays
- Who: Tampa Bay Rays (58-53) at Baltimore (59-53)
- When: 4:10 p.m. ET, Saturday, Aug. 13
- Where: Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, Fla.
- TV: Bally Sports Sun
- Stream: Fubo.tv CLICK HERE
- Announcers: Dewayne Staats (play-by-play), Brian Anderson (color commentary) and Ryan Bass (reporter).
- Radio: WDAE 95.3 FM, SiriusXM Channel 89
- Latest line: The Rays are favored at minus-190 on the money line in according to the Fanduel.com website line as of Wednesday morning. The Orioles are plus-166. The over/under is 6.5.
Starting lineups
- BALTIMORE ORIOLES: Ryan McKenna CF, Anthony Santandar LF, Ryan Mountcastle 1B, Adley Rutschman DH, Ramon Urias 3B, Austin Hays RF, Jorge Mateo SS, Rougned Odor 2B, Robinson Chirinos, DL Hall P.
- TAMPA BAY RAYS: Yu Chang 2B, Yandy Diaz DH, Randy Arozarena LF, Isaac Paredes 3B, Francisco Mejia C, Christian Bethancourt 1B, Jose Siri CF, Roman Quinn RF, Taylor Walls SS, Shane McClanahan P.
Related stories on Rays baseball
- HAPPY HOMECOMING FOR BRETT PHILLIPS: Popular former Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Brett Phillips was back at Tropicana Field on Friday, but this time as a part of the Baltimore Orioles. He cherished his time with his hometown Rays, but he's also very excited now to be a part of the up-and-coming Orioles franchise. CLICK HERE
- ORIOLES WIN SERIES OPENER: Tampa Bay pitching gave up 10 runs and 19 hits to the red-hot Baltimore Orioles on Friday night, losing 10-3 and falling out of the final American League playoff spot after the first game of an important three-game series. The Orioles are now a half-game ahead of them. CLICK HERE
- RAYS SCHEDULE: Here is the complete 2022 Tampa Bay Rays schedule, with results and stats so far, and dates and game times for the remaining games in the final two months of the season. CLICK HERE
Tom Brew is the publisher of Inside The Rays, and has been with the Sports Illustrated/FanNation network for three years. He is an award-winning writer and editor who has spent most of his four-decade career at the Tampa Bay Times, Indianapolis Star and South Florida Sun-Sentinel. He has written four books.