McClanahan Better, But Rays Lose 2-1 to Astros, Slip Further Behind in Wild-Card Race
HOUSTON, Texas — With a playoff spot already secured and a quick trip back to Cleveland looking more and more likely to start the postseason, the Tampa Bay Rays are in playoff prep mode. So the fact that they lost 2-1 to the Houston Astros on Saturday night doesn't really mean a whole lot.
The Rays, who celebrated their fourth consecutive playoff berth on Friday night after a 7-3 win, went away meekly Saturday, getting just four hits in this loss. Veteran Rays outfielder David Peralta had two of them, and now has 1,000 for his career.
Fellow wild-card teams Toronto and Seattle both won on Saturday, so it's looking like the Rays are going to finish as the No. 6 seed. They are three games behind Toronto with four to go for the No. 4 seed, and trail Seattle by 1 1/2 games.
If the Rays finish sixth, they would play the Cleveland Guardians in the wild-card round, a best-of-three series starting on Friday at Progressive Field. The entire series is played there.
The Rays ran into a buzzsaw Saturday night in Houston starter Cristian Javier (11-9), who allowed only two hits and struck out seven. He has now pitched 25 1/3 consecutive scoreless innings, the longest active streak in the majors.
The Rays, who are 2-5 in their last seven games, have scored just one run in each of the five losses
“He was real good,” Houston manager Dusty Baker said of Javier. “He was locating his fastball, threw in a couple different sliders, threw more changeups and Maldy (catcher Martín Maldonado) directed him great through the game. I don’t think he shook him off all night that I saw. Boy, he was very good.”
The Rays' only run came in the ninth inning off of Houston closer Ryan Pressley. Yandy Diaz, who was pinch-hitting after having a three-hit night on Thursday, had an RBI single after Pressley walked two batters. Harold Ramirez lined out to right field to end the game.
The biggest storyline on Saturday was taking a close look at Shane McClanahan's start for the Rays, He's had a pair of shaky outings lately since coming back from a tight shoulder that landed him on the injured list.
This was last start before the playoffs — he's the likely Game 1 starter on Friday — and he was better. By design, he only threw five innings and 67 pitches, allowing two runs but showing better command.
“I felt good. That was really nice to see. I think I’m pretty proud of the way I threw the ball (Saturday),” he said to the Tampa Bay Times. “Made some big pitches. I feel like I responded really, really well after those last two (outings) I had.
“To come back out fighting and kicking and competing in the zone and trust the guys behind me, it was good to see. I feel like I’m at a good finishing point this year, and I’m excited for whenever I get the ball next in the postseason.”
The two teams wrap up the series on Sunday, with Corey Kluber pitching for the Rays. He is 10-9 on the season with a 4.36 earned run average. Houston will start Luis Garcia, who is 14-8 with a 3.81 ERA this year.
Kluber just pitched against Houston on Sept. 21 in St. Petersburg, He went seven innings and allowed just one run and six hits. Garcia pitched in that series, too, throwing five scoreless innings on Sept. 19. Houston won all three games in Florida during that series.
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.