Three Rays homers back McClanahan in 4-0 win over Marlins
ST. PETERSBURG — Kevin Kiermaier hit Pablo López's first pitch for an inside-the-park home run and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Miami Marlins 4-0 on Tuesday night.
Harold Ramirez and Ji-Man Choi also homered off López, who had given up only two home runs in eight preceding starts.
Shane McClanahan (4-2) pitched six innings for the Rays, striking out nine.
Kiermaier hit a line drive that center fielder Jesús Sánchez dove forward to attempt to catch. The ball skipped past Sánchez and rolled to the wall as Kiermaier circled the bases, scoring when catcher Jacob Stallings couldn't control the relay throw in time.
It was the sixth homer of the year for Kiermaier, who is 13 for 24 with three homers in his last five games. Ramirez hit his first home run since June 21 with Cleveland. Choi's two-run shot in the sixth was his third of the season.
The Marlins' best chance to score off McClanahan came in the sixth, when Garrett Cooper and Jesús Aguilar led off with singles. After a double play, McClanahan threw a wild pitch that bounced back into fair territory, causing Cooper to change his mind about trying to score from third. When McClanahan slipped and fell, however, Cooper tried again to score, but third baseman Isaac Paredes threw him out.
Lopez (4-2), who came into the game with a National League-best 1.57 ERA, gave up four runs on nine hits in seven innings, striking out eight.
Cooper, leading off for the first time in his career, and Stallings each had two of Miami's five hits.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Marlins: OF Jazz Chisolm (tight left hamstring) will probably be back in the lineup Wednesday. ... Ex-Rays IF Joey Wendle, who has been out two weeks with a sore right hamstring, has been running at 100% for a few days, according to manager Don Mattingly.
Rays: OF Manuel Margot (strained right hamstring) will probably be activated Wednesday. ... IF Yandy Diáz's shoulder is still sore, but manager Kevin Cash said Diáz will probably be back in the the lineup Wednesday.
UP NEXT
RHP Cody Poteet (0-0, 0.78) will get his second start of the season for the Marlins against RHP Drew Rasmussen (4-1, 2.33). Rasmussen is 4-0 with a 1.01 ERA in his last five starts.
