The Tampa Bay Rays are playing the kind of baseball that makes you wonder if they’ve forgotten how to lose.
In a Tuesday night thriller that was equal parts dominant, stressful, and eventually triumphant, the Rays clawed out a 7-6 win over the Toronto Blue Jays in ten innings. It wasn’t the cleanest victory, but it extended a scorching run that has seen the team win 16 of its last 18 games.
For the first five innings, Shane McClanahan was simply untouchable. The lefty was “nasty,” according to manager Kevin Cash, carving through the Toronto lineup without giving up a single hit until the fifth. He pushed his scoreless streak to 21 2/3 innings, joining teammate Drew Rasmussen as the only pitchers in franchise history to throw four straight scoreless starts of five-plus innings.
“It’s called competing my butt off,” McClanahan said of his high-velocity escapes from late-inning jams. Despite his dominance, the Rays are still playing it safe with his workload, capping his night at 80 pitches as he continues a stellar comeback season.
However, the 5-0 lead McClanahan handed over didn’t stay safe for long. A messy seventh inning involving three relievers and a few defensive hiccups from Junior Caminero allowed the Blue Jays to storm back with five runs, erasing the lead and sending the Rogers Centre crowd into a frenzy.
But these Rays don’t blink.
In the tenth, shortstop Taylor Walls played the hero, threading a single through a drawn-in infield to score Cedric Mullins. Walls then scampered to third on a wild pitch and crossed the plate on a deep sacrifice fly by Jonathan Aranda—a ball center fielder Daulton Varsho caught while nearly sprinting through the outfield wall.
Garrett Cleavinger wobbled slightly in the bottom half but slammed the door to move the Rays to 28-13 on the year.
READ: Rays Inside The Numbers: Current 13-Game Stretch Goes Into Franchise Record Book
“That’s what we do. We’ve got to scrap wins out,” Walls said afterward. “When guys fall, help them up. Do what you can to have their back.”
The win keeps the Rays firmly atop the AL East and perfect against Toronto this season with a 5-0 head-to-head record.
They’ll look to keep the vibes high on Wednesday night when Griffin Jax takes the hill against Toronto’s Dylan Cease. With the way this squad is finding ways to win, no lead—and no deficit—seems out of reach.
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