ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Shane McClanahan made a solid regular-season debut for the Rays on Thursday, the hard-throwing lefty from USF showing off his impressive arsenal over four innings, striking out five while allowing two runs.
But his teammates couldn’t help him out.
The Rays ended up losing 3-2, as Matt Chapman doubled in the go-ahead run in the ninth off Diego Castillo, who was working a third straight game.
A one-out walk by Jed Lowrie set up the A’s run, then Chapman laced a ball that got over the head of rightfielder Brett Phillips.
The loss dropped the Rays back to .500 at 13-13.
The Rays grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first when Austin Meadows snapped an 0-for-14 slump with a bloop double that scored Brandon Lowe, who was hit by a pitch.
The A’s tied the game in the third off McClanahan with three straight one-out hits, the run scoring on a double by Ramon Laureano.
Then the A’s went ahead in the fourth when Chapman homered with two outs, on a 1-2 changeup from McClanahan.
The Rays came back to tie it in the fifth when Brandon Lowe, who’d been in another cold streak, crushed a 1-1 cutter from Chris Bassitt 431 feet at 110 mph off his bat. It was Lowe’s fourth homer overall and first since April 21, and he did a short bat toss to mark the moment.
McClanahan came out dazzling, striking out leadoff man Mark Canha with a 101 mph fastball, then mixing in a wicked slider to fan four of the first five overall. He threw 59 pitches on the day, 42 strikes.
He had already made a historic debut for the Rays in October, the first pitcher in major-league history to pitch first in the postseason. He made four appearances, including one in the World Series.
The Rays sent him to the alternate site this spring, but with a number of pitchers injured called him up to start Thursday and join the rotation, building up innings and pitch count as he goes.
Thursday, he was followed by Luis Patino and Andrew Kittredge, who worked two innings each, and then Castillo.
