Tampa Bay brought the unusual combination of the the original home white jerseys and the 2001-2005 era hats. That unusualness continued in the game because these two teams frequently play close games, but this game was never really in doubt as the Rays went up in the second inning and never looked back in this 11-1 win over Cleveland.
The Rays and Guardians squared off in Cleveland at the end of April and neither team scored more than three runs in any contest. The teams scored a combined 10 runs in the three games
in two 1-run wins by the Rays and a 2-run win by the Guardians. That came after a 2025 history while saw three 1-run games between the two teams along with a blowout win by each club. Coming into this contest, the talk was focused on how evenly matched the clubs were, so much so that Brian Anderson invoked a Spiderman meme joke in the pre-game when previewing the game.
The first inning saw both Shane McClanahan and Joey Cantillo look sharp, particularly Cantillo as he carved up Yandy Diaz on three pitches. The second inning was more of the same from McClanahan, but the offensive party got started after a one-out single by Jonny DeLuca who was on base when second baseman Ryan Vilade sabotaged yet another first pitch for a two-run homer that included an entertaining slide into third base as Vilade was not convinced the ball cleared the wall. The home run was Vilade’s eighth of the season, and five of them have now come on first pitches:
The game was momentarily close in the fourth when the Guardians cut the lead in half with two doubles in the fourth inning from Chase DeLauter and David Fry, but then the club gave it all back and then some in the bottom of the frame. Cedric Mullins tripled to lead off the bottom of the fourth, which was followed by a single by DeLuca and an infield bunt single by Chandler Simpson that was successful despite being well-defended by the Guardians. A walk to Vilade loaded the bases for what should have been at least a forceout at home on a batted ball by Ben Williamson, but Rhys Hoskins threw one juuuuust a bit high:
Fortes hit his second single of the game to drive in a run, and the Rays found themselves up four runs with no outs in the inning. It is tough to nitpick in a blowout win, but as the late great Dave Wills loved to say, the Rays left some chicken on the bone in the inning. Diaz and Jonathan Aranda struck out while Junior Caminero hit into a 6-3 forceout. Aranda’s strikeout was particularly frustrating because he was victimized by a 3-0 auto-strike call and did not challenge the pitch:
That walk would have driven in a run, but Aranda did finally challenge two pitches in the 8th inning with the game out of hand, including challenging a pitch in the same location which got him in the 4th. It is unclear what the team strategy is for challenging pitches these days after watching them accept the very large zone Shane Bieber was afforded in Toronto.
The Rays would resume the scoring in the 6th on an RBI single by Junior Caminero that was a close call at the plate thanks to a throw by Petey Halpin that was better thatn the reception of said throw by Austin Hedges:
The scoring would continue in the later innings with a Fortes double driving in Williamson and the club hanging some runs on former teammate Shawn Armstrong, who unfortunately had to leave with what appeared to be an achilles injury. The scoring would be capped with a first pitch blast by Richie Palacios off Hunter Gaddis.
If this were a hockey matchup and we were giving out the stars of the game, they would be as such:
1st star of the game: Ben Williamson
Williamson was 1 for 5 with a double in this game, but he made two outstanding defensive plays tonight. The second one came on a tricky bounce on the final out of the game, but his first play to rob Angel Martinez of a hit was special as it prevented a run and ended a rally:
2nd star of the game: Shane McClanahan
McClanahan had another strong, even if abbreviated, outing. Kevin Cash decided the game was well enough in hand after five to entrust the bullpen to get the final 12 outs. McClanahan threw 16 of 19 first pitch strikes and got 13 whiffs on 35 swings. The changeup was particularly nasty tonight, but it was also notable to see him hit 99 twice in this contest.
3rd star of the game: Nick Fortes
Fortes has been red hot at the plate over his last five games with 2 home runs, 8 RBIs going 5 for 8 with runners in scoring position along with a .579 average. Tonight was his third multi-hit contest this week after just three such games in his previous 22 games
The home runs by Vilade and Palacious tonight give the Rays 29 home runs in the month of July, which at press time, leads all American League clubs. Unfortunately, the Rays did not gain any ground tonight as the Yankees shut out the Phillies 1-0 behind Cam Schlittler while the Red Sox defeated the Blue Jays 6-4.
