Arozarena, McClanahan dominate at Petco like it's 2020

SAN DIEGO -- The Rays picked up right where they left off at Petco Park.

The team visited San Diego’s downtown ballpark for the first time since its dramatic series victories in the neutral-site ALDS and ALCS in 2020. Only a handful of players remain with the Rays from that World Series team, but the contingent was central to a 6-2 victory Friday night against the Padres at Petco Park.

Shane McClanahan, who first stood on a Major League mound during that 2020 ALDS, tossed 6 2/3 innings of one-run ball to become MLB’s first 11-game winner this year, and 2020 ALCS MVP Randy Arozarena had a three-run home run and an RBI single as the Rays improved to an MLB-best 51-22.

“This is a beautiful stadium. I love hitting here,” Arozarena said through interpreter Manny Navarro. “It brought back a little bit to the playoffs of 2020.”

As opponents try to reverse-engineer the secret sauce that has put Tampa Bay atop the Majors this season, one watched from the home dugout Friday with full understanding and appreciation. Blake Snell pitched for the Rays from 2016-20 before he was traded to San Diego.

“They’re a good team. They know how to play,” said Snell, who will face his former club for the first time on Saturday. “They play small ball, they steal, they hit. It’s a good team. … They do all the little things right, and they have guys that love each other and pull the same way together. It’s usually why they’re so good.”

The Rays lead the American League with 117 home runs, so they don’t always sneakily push runs across. But on Friday, they managed to embody small ball strategy even when they hit the long ball.

Isaac Paredes put the Rays on the board with a solo home run off Yu Darvish in the second inning. Measured by Statcast at a projected 355 feet, the drive reached a maximum height of only 44 feet and had a 3.5-second hang time, the sixth-lowest of any MLB homer this year. It would have been out in only five of 30 MLB ballparks, per Statcast.

Arozarena’s homer was more of a Statcast showcase. The right-handed slugger clobbered seven homers in the 12 postseason games at Petco Park in 2020, and he went deep again on the first pitch of his third at-bat Friday against Darvish.

Arozarena saw four straight sinkers to begin his first at-bat against Darvish, so he went to the plate looking for another. He got the pitch that he wanted, but it was several inches inside. Most batters would be lucky to put such a pitch in play with any force, much less send it a projected 402 feet, into the left-field seats, with a 109.4 mph exit velocity.

“He’s so quick,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “His bat speed is elite. … If you’re going in, you’ve got to really get it in on him because he’s so quick.”

Added Arozarena: “It was a little bit more inside than I thought. I thought it was more middle. But I trusted my hands to get to that ball.”

The Rays are only 22 homers shy of their total for all of last season, when they ranked 25th in the Majors with 139. And they’re getting power up and down the lineup. Paredes became the fifth Rays batter with at least a dozen homers. Josh Lowe has 11. Two others need one more to reach double digits.

“I didn’t see that coming,” Cash admitted.

McClanahan, meanwhile, held the Padres scoreless until Nelson Cruz ended his night with a solo home run in the seventh. The left-hander lowered his MLB-best ERA to 2.12 while improving to 11-1. He yielded only three hits, struck out five and walked three.

“It was a grind,” McClanahan said. “I got saved a lot by my defense tonight. … It was one of those days it wasn’t going to be pretty. Had to find a way. It wasn’t my best outing, but I was pretty gritty. I’m pretty proud of that.”

Certainly, it helped that Arozarena and the offense provided breathing room. Still, the Padres managed to bring the potential tying run to the plate in the ninth inning before Pete Fairbanks forced Fernando Tatis Jr. to ground into a game-ending double play.

Then, just as three seasons ago, the Rays walked off the Petco Park field a winner.

“Some old memories came up,” Cash said.