Rays lose Shane McClanahan to back issue, blow two leads to Royals

ST. PETERSBURG — Thursday was quite a day for the Rays.

They benched their star shortstop, Wander Franco, for at least two games due to his actions toward his teammates. Their top starting pitcher, Shane McClanahan, walked off the mound in the fourth inning due to mid-back tightness. Two other key players, Yandy Diaz and Luke Raley, required on-field attention from the athletic training staff, with Raley was headed for imaging on his sore right hand.

And they blew a pair of two-run leads against a Royals squad with the majors’ second-worst record before losing, 6-5.

In losing for the fourth time in five games to drop their majors-best record to 52-26, the Rays allowed a team record-tying seven stolen bases, had two runners thrown out at third and were on the wrong end of just the fifth game the Royals have won of the 52 in which they trailed after seven innings.

It was only the second time the Rays had lost when leading after seven innings, making them 43-2.

And the winning run scored on a 71.9 mph roller to first base that Diaz and reliever Pete Fairbanks couldn’t make a clean play on after a leadoff walk and two stolen bases.

“It’s a frustrating way to lose a ballgame,” Fairbanks said.

It was a frustrating day for the Rays overall, with Franco’s benching creating the biggest news and McClanahan’s back issue the principal concern.

Both McClanahan — who said he had some tightness before his last start Friday in San Diego — and manager Kevin Cash expressed optimism he won’t need to miss a start but acknowledged it was too soon to say for sure.

“I don’t want to speculate; it’s still pretty early,” McClanahan said. “But the leading notion is we don’t think it’s anything severe. Just maybe more of a precautionary move just to maybe limit whatever it is. Hopefully I’m not missing any starts and we get this thing hammered out in a couple of days.”

Cash said the Rays felt McClanahan “managed it really, really well” on Friday but were concerned Thursday, especially noting how his fastball velocity — which typically averages around 97 mph — was down a bit. It was down a tick more in the fourth, where the four he threw clocked at 93.7, 94.4, 90.9 and 93.6. They had reliever Kevin Kelly warm up quickly, and Cash and head athletic trainer Joe Benge soon headed to the mound.

“We just felt in that moment, (pitching coach Kyle Snyder) and I were talking, the way the ball was coming out that I think he was favoring it a little bit more,” Cash said. “He wanted to stay out there. Appreciate him certainly wanting to go out there and to continue to compete. But I think in those moments, we probably need to err on the side of caution and make sure that we do right by him.”

McClanahan said he…