Monday, 4 a.m.
Leave it to Shane McClanahan to remind you of what a stopper does in baseball.
He stops a losing streak, although a small one.
He stops a potent lineup.
He stops the signs that it's going to be a rough day for him personally.
In other words, he stops the nonsense.
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McClanahan did all of that Sunday in Tampa Bay's 8-1 victory over Toronto. He ran his record to 3-0, and he allowed the Rays to win going away.
McClanahan will be particularly important for the Rays in the days to come with the injuries suffered by the team's staff (Zach Eflin, Jeffrey Springs, Tyler Glasgow).
Still, he won't embrace the way things started for him. He gave up a walk and two singles to the Jays' first three batters before settling down. He allowed only two more hits and one more walk in his six innings.
The Rays got all the runs they needed in the first inning when Wander Franco walked with the bases loaded and Josh Lowe hit a bloop single to right field for two more runs.
The Rays scored four more with two out in the fifth inning. Taylor Walls walked. He was called out stealing second, but the call was overturned on replay. Josh Lowe then doubled to right to knock in one run, and after a nifty slide by Lowe at third kept the inning alive, Christian Bethancourt homered to center field to put the game away.
For Cash, the key was taking advantage of Alek Manoah's wildness in the first inning.
"Manoah is such a good pitcher when you can get him out of synch a little bit, you want to capitalize," Rays' manager Kevin Cash said. "We wanted to get greedy there and not just get one. Josh hung in there and was able to get a ball to score two."
The Rays now travel to Cincinnati to face the Reds tonight at 6:40 p.m. The Rays have not announced their starter, but Hunter Greene will start for the Reds.
hunter Greene.