Brett Phillips, right, celebrates with Issac Paredes after Tampa Bay’s 4-1 win Wednesday over the Boston Red Sox in St. Petersburg, Fla. Scott Audette/Associated Press
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Shane McClanahan earned his 10th win and regained the major league lead in strikeouts during his final outing before the All-Star Game, pitching the Tampa Bay Rays past the Boston Red Sox 4-1 on Wednesday night.
Taylor Walls homered for the Rays, who have won five straight against the rival Red Sox.
McClanahan (10-3) struck out six and allowed one run in 6 1/3 innings of three-hit ball. He increased his season total to 147 strikeouts.
The 25-year-old lefty lowered his AL-best ERA to 1.71 and equaled his win total from his rookie season last year.
It was the seventh straight start in which McClanahan pitched at least six innings and gave up no more than one earned run. He threw 85 pitches.
Colin Poche worked the ninth for his sixth save.
Ji-Man Choi drove in the game’s first run with a single off Boston starter Josh Winckowski in the third. Harold Ramirez made it 2-0 by dropping a single over the head of first baseman Bobby Dalbec.
Walls’ fourth home run made it 3-0 in the fourth. Josh Lowe scored from first base on Yandy Diaz’s two-out single in the seventh for the Rays’ final run.
Xander Bogaerts scored Boston’s run on a double-play grounder after leading off the fifth with a single.
Winckowski (3-4) gave up three runs and four hits in six innings, striking out five.
The loss dropped the Red Sox to 0-9-1 in 10 series against AL East opponents this season.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Red Sox: Left-hander Chris Sale felt good after pitching five innings in his season debut Tuesday, and is likely to pitch Sunday at New York. … Catcher Kevin Plawecki was activated after spending two days on the COVID-19 injured list, and Connor Wong was optioned to the minors.
Rays: Left-hander Josh Fleming will miss at least three weeks before having his strained oblique re-evaluated. … Second baseman Brandon Lowe (lower back) played an entire game for Triple-A Durham and is scheduled to DH in one more rehab game before rejoining the Rays for the first time since May 15.
REMATCH
The McClanahan-Winckowski matchup was a rematch of a high school game played more than eight years ago, about 115 miles south of Tropicana Field.
McClanahan pitched for Cape Coral High School and Winckowski was on the mound for Fort Myers Cypress Lake on April 14, 2014.
MILESTONE
Rays pitcher Corey Kluber reached 10 years of major league service, fully vesting him in the pension plan. The team congratulated him on the ballpark video board.
Copy the Story LinkSend questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.