McClanahan, Arozarena lead Rays’ win

by Gary Shelton on June 17, 2023

in general

Arozarena hit his 13th homer//TIM WIRT

Saturday, 4 a.m.

So who is the best player on the Tampa Bay Rays?

And wasn’t Friday night an on-the-field debate over the subject?

Of course, the easy answer is Shane McClanahan, who had another terrific outing. He ran his record to 11-1 in the Rays’ 6-2 victory over San Diego. Of his 15 starts, he’s allowed two or fewer runs in 13 of them.

But maybe its Randy Arozarena, who continued to tear the ball up in San Diego. Arozarena drove in four runs, and he hit a three-run homer. In his 13 games at Petco, he is hitting .373 with eight homers and 13 RBI.

Content beyond this point is for members only.

Already a member? To view the rest of this column, sign in using the handy "Sign In" button located in the upper right corner of the GarySheltonSports.com blog (it's at the far right of the navigation bar under Gary's photo). Not a member? It's easy to subscribe so you can view the rest of this column and all other premium content on GarySheltonSports.com.


Maybe it's Wander Franco, wo started a game-ending double play.

The thing is, the Rays’ elite isn’t limited to those guys, either. Luke Raley had a pair of doubles. Isaac Paredes hit his 12th homer. Pete Fairbanks snuffed a late uprising, inducing a double-play to end the game. San Diego had loaded the bases on a hit batter, a single and a walk. But Fairbanks earned his seventh save by getting Fernando Tatis Jr.  to ground to Wander Franco on his second pitch.

The Rays took a 6-0 lead, but had only one hit in their final four at-bats.

The Rays play the Padres again today at 7:15 p.m. Zack Eflin will start for the Rays against former Ray pitcher Blake Snell.

Previous post:

Next post: