BOSTON — Shane McClanahan of the Tampa Bay Rays kept himself occupied and relaxed during the four-day All-Star break.
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He took his boat out to go fishing one day, played golf another, then had some friends over and cooked them dinner.
“Great, great mental re-set,” he said. “Just enjoyed the downtime.”
What he didn’t get to do, and hasn’t since July 8, was throw a baseball in a game. He finally gets to do that again Sunday, and he can’t wait.
“I’m excited,” McClanahan said Saturday. “Arm feels great, and I’m ready to pitch.”
The Rays will need a good start out of him. Wilyer Abreu hit two home runs – the second a go-ahead, two-run shot in the seventh inning that gave him four homers in two games — and the Boston Red Sox rallied for a 7-6 victory over the Rays on Saturday to extend their winning streak to 12 games.
Abreu’s shot off Garrett Cleavinger (2-3) capped a four-run inning that wiped out a 6-3 deficit. Ceddanne Rafaela had an RBI double and Masataka Yoshida had a run-scoring ground out in the inning.
Trailing 3-2 in the fourth, the Rays jumped ahead with three runs. Victor Mesa Jr. hit a homer into Tampa Bay’s bullpen and Yandy Díaz added an RBI single. Jonny DeLuca’s solo homer over the Green Monster made it 6-3 in the seventh.
Rays starter Ian Seymour lasted just three innings, allowing three runs and two homers after giving up a career-high tying six runs in his previous start.
And that’s where McClanahan comes in. The lefty is in the midst of an impressive comeback season, returning to the mound after being sidelined since August 2023 by Tommy John elbow surgery and then an unusual nerve issue, and posting an 8-5 record with a 2.83 ERA.
Most of his success is due to his talent, hard work and confidence. But a small part is how the Rays have managed his unusual situation, handling him with some care.
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After McClanahan made his 15th start of the season June 23 working on a mostly regular routine, pitching every fifth or sixth day (if there was a team off-day), the Rays gave him some extra time between outings. Though manager Kevin Cash said it wasn’t a factor in their planning, McClanahan had struggled a bit in his four outings before the Rays made the change, going 0-3 with a 5.79 ERA.
He got seven days of rest before facing the Royals on July 1 and threw six shutout innings. He had six days off before facing the Yankees on July 8 and threw 6.1 scoreless innings. Sunday, he’ll take the mound with 10 days in between outings.
McClanahan said he didn’t know the plan going forward after Sunday: “That’s a decision above my pay grade, thankfully. I wish I could tell you, I don’t know yet. But I do know I’m gonna be ready every time they give me the ball, and that’s all I can control.”
Cash said they plan to put him back on a normal schedule for now.
“I think you know we’ll continue to handle them just like we have all season long,” Cash said. “I know the last two starts there was a little bit of a larger gap in between his starts, but see him taking the ball (Sunday) and then taking the ball again on his fifth or sixth day, however it lines up.”
Workload could become an issue as the final months unfold, especially if the Rays look like they are headed to the postseason. Over his first 17 starts, McClanahan has thrown 86 innings, and there has been loose talk of a limit of 150.
McClanahan, whose mother, Lisa, made the trip from her Florida home to see him pitch Sunday, said he just wants to get back on the mound and pick up where he was.
“I’m going to do the exact same thing,” he said. “I don’t think there’s a need to change anything. I’ve had some good ones, had some bad ones, but it’s baseball. It’s just what it is.”
McClanahan will try to be a stopper for the Rays. He is set to face RHP Sonny Gray (11-1, 2.54) in the series finale Sunday.
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.