ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. _ The Rays don't want to get too excited.
Not yet anyway.
There are still innings to be thrown, reports from the training staff to be considered, hurdles to be cleared. Some setbacks, or at least side steps, are likely.
But ...
Their starting pitching staff is suddenly looking a whole lot better.
The most tangible evidence came Friday from rookie Brendan McKay, who made an impressive return to the mound Friday in a 5-0 win over the Blue Jays.
McKay worked 3 2/3 innings, striking out seven of the 12 batters he faced, allowing only one hit, on a ball right fielder Avisail Garcia over-ran in the first, and, perhaps most importantly, not walking any.
More good news is to come this weekend.
Tyler Glasnow, who had arguably the best numbers of any starter in the majors when sidelined in early May by a forearm strain, was cleared to return to active duty and will work as the starter/opener on Sunday.
And Blake Snell, the 2018 Cy Young award winner whose encore season was most recently interrupted by late July surgery to remove a half dozen bone chips, on Saturday will make the first of what could be just two rehab outings and then rejoin the Rays on the upcoming road trip.
McKay's return, after a demotion to the minors and a short stint on the injured list, was in the spotlight Friday. And he looked over the wildness and shoulder inflammation that ailed him, allowing just the one hit, throwing 36 of his 59 pitches for strikes, including nine swing-and-misses, seven on his fastball.
The Rays made it easier for him, scoring one in the first, on a Garcia double, tow in the second on a two-run homer by Mike Zunino and another in the fourth on a passed ball. Austin Meadows knocked in the fifth run before an announced 10,853 at the Trop.
The Rays improved to 84-59 in winning for the eighth time in their last nine games, and maintained their hold on the top AL wildcard spot. They started the day with a one-half game lead over the A's and 1 { over the Indians, who both played later Friday.
McKay was making his first start for the Rays since Aug. 19.
He'd been sent to the minors after an uncharacteristic lack of control in back to back outings, walking nine while working only six innings total. Contrast that to walking only three over his first six games while working 29 2/3 innings.
Once McKay got to Triple-A Durham and threw in the bullpen, he felt something not quite right in his shoulder, and a quick trip back to St. Pete for a visit to Dr. Koco Eaton, which led to a diagnosis of inflammation and a cortisone shot to treat it.
McKay came back to work three innings last Saturday for Durham, allowing one hit though throwing 53 pitches.
Between the rest, the treatment and some work on realigning his mechanics. McKay went into Friday's start confident his struggles were behind him.
"I think it ultimately had something to do with some of the inflammation that obviously occurred after the fact," he said Thursday.
"You don't want to have it as an excuse. But just thinking back now that that happened and I got it checked out and figured out what it was, obviously that's going to start changing stuff and the ball's not going to come out right. I think we've got it straightened out to where you're back into feeling how you want to feel and being able to come out and do what you want to do."
That certainly looked to the case from the start Friday, as he opened the game with a four-pitch strikeout of Jays rookie smash Bo Bichette, who on Thursday hit a pair of homers, and saw 20 pitches in just his first two at-bats off Austin Pruitt.
McKay struck out No. 2 hitter Teoscar Hernandez, then allowed his only hit, a triple by Randal Grichuk on a fly ball that Garcia took a bad route to and over-ran but never touched.
McKay retired his next nine after that, working quite well two outs into the fourth. The only person to stop him from going further was Rays manager Kevin Cash, who after saying before the game there was no hard pitch limit on McKay, decided 59 were enough.
Pete Fairbanks took over and got the Rays through the fifth, then Andrew Kittredge worked an extremely efficient two innings, throwing only five pitches in the fifth and 16 total.
Cole Sulser followed, in his major league debut, with an impressive eighth as they ran their streak of batters retired to 22, but then made a mess in the ninth Emilio Pagan was summoned to clean up. Sulser was the 32nd pitcher and 54th player used by the Rays this season, breaking team records for both.
The four-game series continues Saturday night, with Charlie Morton starting for the Rays and promising prospect Anthony Kay, acquired from the Mets in the Marcus Stroman deal, making his debut for the Jays.
