Texas Rangers at Tampa Bay Rays

Entering Thursday’s series finale at Tropicana Field, the Rays already had a reason to be shopping in the starting pitching market ahead of Monday’s 6 p.m. ET Trade Deadline. Time will tell if they have a greater reason to explore that market now after starting pitcher Shane McClanahan exited Thursday’s 3-2 win in the fourth inning due to left mid-back tightness. On the bright side, the left-hander said that he doesn’t think the injury is anything major and nothing has been mentioned to him about undergoing any tests. “Hopefully it’s gone in the next couple of days,” he said. McClanahan added that he’s felt this kind of pain at times this season, but it usually dissipated as his body got warm and he got into the flow of the game. On Thursday, it was “just a little bit more prevalent and I couldn’t shake it.” McClanahan began the matinee by putting up zeros through his first three innings. However, his pitch velocity was down throughout the day. His four-seam fastball, which has averaged 95.6 mph this season, was at 94.9 mph through the first two frames. It fell further in the third, down to 93.8 mph. His curveball and changeup were down a couple of ticks as well.