ARLINGTON, Texas — The Tampa Bay Rays dropped their 10th consecutive game at Globe Life Field on Thursday night, shut out 6-0 by the Texas Rangers in the opener of a four-game series. Tampa Bay has not won in the building since June 2, 2022.
Rangers starter Cal Quantrill dominated the Rays’ lineup, holding Tampa Bay to a season-low-tying three hits — all singles — and no extra-base hits. It marked the eighth shutout loss for the Rays this season. Quantrill has limited Tampa Bay to a .100 average (4-for-40) in two starts this year, making him one of only four opposing pitchers to hold the Rays to .100 or lower with 12 1/3-plus innings pitched in a single season in franchise history.
“We’ve got to have some better at-bats and put a little bit more pressure on him,” manager Kevin Cash said. “But saying that, he pitched a heck of a ballgame and really didn’t give us much choice but to swing because he was in the strike zone so much. We just couldn’t do much with the stuff.”
First baseman Jonathan Aranda acknowledged the futility through an interpreter. “It’s hard to pinpoint, to be quite honest. You know, he’s just gotten the better of us,” Aranda said. “We’ve done our work, we’ve done our preparation, we’ve done the scouting, but just for whatever reason, he’s been the better man on his outings.”
Rays starter Shane McClanahan went five innings, allowing four runs on six hits with one walk and three strikeouts. He threw three scoreless innings before surrendering a single run in the fourth and three in the fifth. The damage in the fifth came with two outs when Ezequiel Duran drove in a run on a shallow fly ball that dropped for a single, and Corey Seager launched an 86.9 mph changeup a Statcast-projected 403 feet over the right-center-field wall. It marked the seventh straight start in which McClanahan failed to pitch six innings. “I felt like I made some good pitches. Unfortunately, it just didn’t go my way,” McClanahan said. Of the Seager homer, he added: “Sometimes you’re going to get got, unfortunately.”
The Rays’ best scoring chances came in the third and seventh innings. Nick Fortes and Yandy Díaz had consecutive two-out singles in the third before Chandler Simpson grounded out. In the seventh, Aranda drew a one-out walk and Cedric Mullins drew a two-out walk, but Quantrill got Jorge Mateo to fly out. “He was just getting out of difficult situations and not allowing for us to get the big hits and get guys on base,” Simpson said.
Tampa Bay has gone 9-11 over its last 20 games after an 18-4 stretch from July 20 to Aug. 12. The franchise’s last losing streak of 10-plus games at a single facility was 18 at Cleveland’s Progressive Field from Sept. 29, 2005, to July 23, 2010. “Look, it’s just another MLB ballpark. It is what it is,” Aranda said. “We’re going to do whatever we can to just wash this day away and be ourselves moving forward. And that’s baseball.” Simpson expressed confidence the club will rebound: “Most definitely. Any stretch that we have that’s downward, I feel like we can get right back on track. Just continue to work.” The Rays and Rangers continue the four-game series Friday night at Globe Life Field.