Cal Quantrill needed only 95 pitches to hand the Texas Rangers a shutout blueprint against the American League's best record.
He worked seven innings, allowed two singles and two walks, struck out five, and left with a 4-0 lead as Texas blanked the Tampa Bay Rays 6-0 on Thursday night at Globe Life Field. ESPN's box lists Quantrill at 7 innings, 2 hits, 0 runs, 2 walks, and 5 strikeouts in a 95-pitch outing that raised him to 7-5 with a 2.79 ERA.
Jakob Junis and Chase Silseth finished the combined three-hitter, Texas' 13th shutout this season, the Associated Press reported.
A stretch that keeps lengthening
Quantrill has a 1.25 ERA over eight outings, including seven starts, since July 28 at Tampa Bay, per the AP. His ERA in seven career starts against the Rays is 1.77. Thursday's game score of 76 on ESPN's board capped another efficient night: 61 strikes, eight groundouts, eight flyouts, and no home runs allowed.
Shane McClanahan (10-7) lasted five innings and allowed four runs on six hits. The AP noted he has not worked through six innings since July 8. Cole Legumina absorbed the eighth-inning damage.
Tampa Bay matched a season low with three hits and was shut out for the eighth time, the AP said. Yandy Díaz had two of those hits; the rest of the order managed one.
Offense finally gave him room
Wyatt Langford doubled into the left-field corner in the fourth and scored on Justin Foscue's single for a 1-0 lead. In the fifth, Ezequiel Durán singled home Logan O'Hoppe, and Corey Seager followed with a two-run homer to right-center that ESPN measured at 403 feet. ESPN's box lists that blast as Seager's 14th; CBS Sports' gametracker tags it as his 13th.
Either way, it made the night 4-0 and turned Quantrill's start into a win probability problem for a Rays club that entered 83-57.
