ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Rays have begun another win streak.
With a shutdown five-inning start from left-hander Shane McClanahan and four RBIs from Austin Meadows, the Rays defeated the Royals 7-2 on Thursday afternoon for their second straight victory.
The Rays have won four consecutive series. The Royals beat the Rays in Tuesday’s series opener to stop an 11-game win streak, the second-longest in franchise history.
The Rays (32-20), at a season-high 12 games over .500, have outscored their opponents 105-48 during a 13-1 stretch. Now they have a rare Friday off before beginning a two-game home series Saturday against the Philadelphia Phillies, then start a seven-game road trip at the New York Yankees on Memorial Day.
For McClanahan (2-0), the rookie from USF, it was his sharpest outing this season. In five innings, he allowed just three singles and never faced a runner in scoring position. He struck out six and walked none.
McClanahan threw first-pitch strikes to 13 of his 17 batters. He went to ball three just once — and Kelvin Gutierrez grounded out on a 3-1 pitch. Overall, Rays pitching was dominant in the three-game series, allowing only five runs while walking just three batters and striking out 36.
Meadows, meanwhile, heated up early and provided McClanahan the only runs he needed. Meadows (2-for-4 with four RBIs) smacked a two-run triple in a three-run first inning, then followed with a two-run homer in the third, making it 5-0.
It was the 10th homer this season for Meadows, who has a team-high 33 RBIs (including 24 in his last 22 games). Catcher Mike Zunino leads the Rays with 11 homers.
When Joey Wendle followed up Meadows’ third-inning homer with a double, then scored on Taylor Walls’ RBI single, it finished off Royals right-hander Brady Singer (2-4), the former University of Florida standout. Singer surrendered six earned runs in 2 2/3 innings.
The Rays extended the lead to 7-0 in the fourth on singles by Kevin Kiermaier and Brett Phillips, then a sacrifice fly by Randy Arozarena.
The Royals got on the board on Ryan O’Hearn’s two-run homer off right-hander Michael Wacha in the sixth. Wacha pitched three innings and Collin McHugh finished in the ninth.
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