Rays’ Shane McClanahan returns to mound to face Blue Jays

TORONTO — Shane McClanahan was activated off the injured list to start today’s game against the Blue Jays.

Lefty Josh Fleming, who worked the final four innings on Wednesday, was sent to Triple-A Durham.

McClanahan has been out since feeling discomfort in his left shoulder warming up Aug. 30 and was diagnosed with an impingement. He last pitched Aug. 24.

Manager Kevin Cash said they will watch McClanahan closely today, how the ball is coming out of his hand and his efficiency, with a realistic goal of having him go 4-5 innings.

Today is the league-wide celebration of Roberto Clemente Day, and all of the Rays Latin American players are wearing his No. 21 in honor, along with base coaches Rodney Linares and Chris Prieto, plus Ryan Yarbrough, who was the team’s 2021 nominee for the Clemente Award.

As it turns out, the Rays batting order today is all Latin American players, so all players on the field, except for McClanahan, will be wearing No. 42.

Also:

* Right-hander Shane Baz, sidelined since July with an elbow injury, is throwing at a distance of 100 feet with hopes he will get on the mound before the end of the season but will not pitch in any games.

* Second baseman Brandon Lowe is in Nashville today getting a second opinion on the recurrence of the lower back issue that landed him on the injured list for a second time.

* Rene Pinto is getting the start at catcher given is previous work with McClanahan, as well as the opportunity to give Francisco Mejia and Christian Bethancourt a day off.

Here is the Rays lineup:

And for the Blue Jays:

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