Rays' next game at Trop: postseason -- or next season

ST. PETERSBURG -- The Rays allowed four home runs and mustered little offense of their own as they lost their regular-season home finale to the Blue Jays, 7-1, on Sunday afternoon.

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The question now, as they embark on a nine-game road trip to finish their regular-season schedule, is whether they’ll take the field again this year at Tropicana Field.

Will they be back to host a Wild Card Series as the American League’s No. 4 seed? Will they return for Game 3 of the AL Division Series? Or was Sunday’s lopsided loss their final game at Tropicana Field until Opening Day 2023?

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When the Rays board their flight to Cleveland on Monday’s off-day, they won’t know how long their trip will last or where it will end.

“I think there's a lot of different scenarios, where we could end up traveling to after that last day in Boston,” said Corey Kluber, who will start Tuesday’s opener against the Guardians. “Hopefully it's back here for a playoff series here. But I think we'll just prepare for a couple different scenarios and be ready, wherever that ends up being.”

The Rays’ second straight defeat against the Blue Jays dropped them to 84-69 on the year, two games behind Toronto (86-67) but still a half-game ahead of the Mariners (83-69) in the American League Wild Card standings. Their magic number to clinch a spot in the postseason is five as the Orioles lost, 6-3, in 11 innings against the Astros on Sunday.

It would take something unforeseen to knock the Rays out of the postseason field. But they are now in a position where they must erase a two-game deficit with nine left to play against the AL Central champion Guardians, the AL-leading Astros and the Red Sox.

Returning to Tropicana Field would be a boon for the Rays, who finished their home schedule with a 51-30 record despite losing the past two games and being unable to win their last two sets at the Trop following six straight home series victories.

“Not winning today hurts a little bit, but at the same time, we've got enough games ahead of us [that], if we play well enough, I'm pretty confident that we could be where we want to be,” infielder Taylor Walls said. “We know we have a tough road schedule coming up, but we're ready for it. There's no other team that is going to be more prepared than we will be.”

They didn’t exactly end their final homestand on a high note, though. They are 2-5 in their past seven games, totaling four runs in the five losses despite scoring 20 in the two victories. After being shut down by Alek Manoah on Saturday, they managed just one run against Ross Stripling and the Blue Jays’ bullpen in Sunday’s series finale to split the four-game series.

“It feels like we split against them every time,” manager Kevin Cash said. “Somebody gets out to the early lead, and then the next team comes back and makes it kind of a much-ado-about-nothing series.”

Of greater concern is the performance of lefty ace Shane McClanahan, who allowed four runs on a career-high three homers while recording only two strikeouts over five innings. McClanahan has allowed nine runs in nine innings over his past two starts following a 15-inning scoreless streak, and he’s now 2-4 with a 4.26 ERA in the second half after entering the All-Star break with a 10-3 record and 1.71 ERA.

“I felt good. Just didn't have it today, my command and feel of the strike zone,” McClanahan said. “I've got to be better. It's frustrating, obviously, and I've just got to keep working.”

It’s a matter of command in this case, as McClanahan fell behind too often and wound up paying for it against Toronto’s power-packed lineup. The lefty said he felt “fine” physically after exiting his last start due to neck tightness, and Cash noted that McClanahan’s velocity and stuff both indicated good health.

“The command his last two [starts] has been a little different,” Cash said. “But I'm very confident -- we're all very confident -- that he's going to get that back. He's got another outing to continue to work toward that.”

Will McClanahan get another chance to toe the rubber at Tropicana Field? The next 10 days will tell.

“I think it's going to be a good stretch,” outfielder Manuel Margot said through interpreter Manny Navarro. “We kind of know what to expect already, and we're going to do our best in order to try to clinch the playoffs.”