ST. PETERSBURG — In his second start back from the 15-day injured list, Rays ace Shane McClanahan exited due to tightness in the left side of his neck during the middle of a plate appearance in the fifth inning of Tuesday night’s game against the Astros at Tropicana Field.
McClanahan walked Jose Altuve to begin the fifth, then threw three straight balls — a changeup and consecutive sliders below the strike zone — to Astros shortstop Jeremy Peña. McClanahan appeared to grimace and rotated his throwing shoulder after his final pitch, which drew manager Kevin Cash and first assistant athletic trainer Mike Sandoval from the home dugout to the mound.
McClanahan appeared to tell Cash, “I’m good,” but he did not attempt to throw any warmup pitches and left alongside Sandoval after a brief conversation. He was replaced by right-hander Shawn Armstrong, who went on to walk Peña.
McClanahan did not immediately return to the Rays’ clubhouse for treatment. Instead, the left-hander stood next to pitching coach Kyle Snyder as the inning continued, which could have been a sign that there isn’t much concern about his status moving forward.
McClanahan was scratched from his Aug. 30 start in Miami only minutes before he was scheduled to pitch and landed on the injured list the next day due to a left shoulder impingement. He served the minimum 15-day stint, returned to the mound last Thursday in Toronto and pitched like he was at full strength, allowing only three hits and one walk while striking out five over five innings in the Rays’ 11-0 win at Rogers Centre.
“I felt normal,” McClanahan said Monday afternoon. “I could definitely tell it was [three] weeks … without an actual competitive game, but I feel like I’ve bounced back good and I’m ready to get going.”
McClanahan seemed to be a bit off as he allowed four runs in his first three innings against the Astros. The All-Star starter has thrown 67 percent of his pitches for strikes this season, but only 45 of his 80 pitches were strikes on Tuesday. He was charged with a season-high-tying five runs overall, including one Armstrong allowed to score in the fifth.
McClanahan induced only two swinging strikes on 19 swings during his first trip through Houston’s lineup and five whiffs on 52 pitches during his first three innings. He seemed to bounce back in the fourth, recording three strikeouts around a one-out walk, then left after throwing 10 pitches in the fifth.