Field Level Media
Aug 19, 2021
Rookie Shane McClanahan won for the fifth time in six starts and Brandon Lowe swatted his 29th homer as the Tampa Bay Rays swept away Baltimore with a 7-2 victory, pushing the Orioles' season-high losing streak to 15 games Thursday in St. Petersburg, Fla.
McClanahan (8-4) sizzled over five innings and yielded five hits, one run and a walk. For the third time, the lefty fanned eight -- matching his career high -- in the series finale.
Lowe doubled and homered in the first two innings, with the deep shot extending his career-high total, and Randy Arozarena stretched his hitting streak to 11 games.
Shortstop Wander Franco went 1-for-2 with two runs, a walk and a hit by pitch to reach base for the 21st consecutive game -- the majors' longest active streak.
Relievers Dietrich Enns (three scoreless innings, four strikeouts) and Adam Conley (one inning, two strikeouts) closed out the victory.
In winning all four games in the series, first-place Tampa Bay beat Baltimore for the ninth consecutive time and 15th occasion in their 16 contests in 2021. The Rays outscored the visitors 34-8 in this series.
Ryan Mountcastle and Jorge Mateo (2-for-4, double) stretched hitting streaks to 11 and 10 contests, respectively, for Baltimore, which is 1-16 in August.
In a tough two-inning start, Baltimore's Jorge Lopez (3-14) surrendered four runs on four hits, including Lowe's long ball.
The Orioles training staff visited the hard-throwing right-hander with two outs in the first after his fastball dipped into the high 80-mph range, yet he stayed in through two full frames.
The Rays showed no signs of sluggishness from Wednesday's 8-4 victory or the two previous dominant wins.
They immediately loaded the bases in the first inning against Lopez. Austin Meadows then produced an RBI walk -- after a catchable foul ball fell harmlessly near the Baltimore dugout -- and Franco scored on Ji-Man Choi's double-play grounder.
Lopez retired the first two batters in the second before walking Brett Phillips. Then Lowe, who is 7-for-11 in his career against Lopez, lifted a towering shot to right -- with a 40-degree launch angle -- to make it 4-0.
In the fourth, the home side lengthened its lead to 7-0 behind Meadows' second RBI walk and Choi's two-run single to center.
Richie Martin put Baltimore on the board in the fifth when his single plated Ramon Urias, who opened with a double. Urias homered with two outs in the ninth for the final run.
--Field Level Media