Cal Quantrill keeps finding ways to make life miserable for the Rays.
On Friday night, he added another chapter to that story, tossing seven shutout innings and leading the Rangers to a 6-0 win over Tampa Bay. The right-hander is now 4-0 lifetime against the Rays over seven starts, and he once again leaned on command, movement, and a deep mix rather than velocity to keep them quiet.
Quantrill barely had to work for it. He allowed only two singles and two late walks, struck out five, and never really let the Rays build anything threatening.
The two hits came on back-to-back two-out plate appearances in the third, but Chandler Simpson couldn’t keep the inning alive. Later, in the seventh, Quantrill issued the two walks, but Jorge Mateo couldn’t turn that traffic into anything.
By the end of the night, Quantrill had another seven-inning shutout on the board.
The Rays had already seen this version of him on July 28, when he held them to one run over a little more than five innings. This time, he was even sharper. Since stepping into the rotation for the injured Jack Leiter, Quantrill has posted a 2.34 ERA over his last 11 starts.
He didn’t overwhelm with swing-and-miss stuff, finishing with just nine swings and misses, but he stayed in control by working up and down in the zone with his two fastballs and then stretching hitters with his splitter. The result was a night full of weak contact.
Tampa Bay never got much going. The Rays only had a runner reach second base three times all game, and their offense stayed pinned down from start to finish.
The Rangers finally cracked it open in the fifth when Shane McClanahan left a changeup up in the zone. Corey Seager had already driven two deep fly balls off the lefty, and this time he didn’t miss, sending the ball six rows deep into the bleachers.
McClanahan generated only five swings and misses, his lowest total in a game this season. He was done after the outing, and Casey Legumina handled the final three innings, giving up the last two runs. Texas added just one more hit after the consecutive singles by Fortes and Diaz in the third.
Jonathan Aranda was responsible for half of Tampa Bay’s six strikeouts, and the whole game had the feel of one side waiting for it to end.
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