Baz to start Game 2 for Rays

Tampa Bay left-hander Shane McClanahan will start Game of 1 of the Rays’ AL Division Series Thursday night. Rays manager Kevin Cash made the announcement before a team workout on Tuesday.

Rookie Shane Baz will take the mound for Game 2 Friday night. Depending on bullpen use in the opening two games, Cash said Drew Rasmussen is the “highly likely” Game 3 starter.

McClanahan, who last year became the first pitcher to make his major league debut in the postseason, went 10-6 with a 3.43 ERA in 25 starts this season. Baz was 20 with 2.03 ERA in three starts after being called up from Class AAA Durham last month.

Astros

Left- hander Framber Valdez will start Friday for Houston in Game 2 of the AL Division Series against the Chicago White Sox. Manager Dusty Baker did not reveal his rotation past Game 2. Lance McCullers Jr. will start in the series opener Thursday. Valdez won a career-high 11 games this season and had a 3.14 ERA in 22 starts.

Nationals

Shortstop Alcides Escobar agreed to a one-year, $1 million contract to stay with Washington next season. Escobar, who will turn 35 in December, batted .288 with 21 doubles, 2 triples, 4 homers and 28 RBIs in 75 games with the Nationals after signing with the club in July.

Rockies

Colorado agreed to multiyear deals with right-hander Antonio Senzatela and firstbaseman C. J. Cron.

Senzatela’s $50.5 million, five-year contract includes a club option for 2027. Cron will return on a $14.5 million, two-year deal.

Rangers

Texas dismissed hitting coach Luis Ortiz and bench coach Don Wakamatsu after a 102-loss season. Assistant hitting coach Callix Crabbe and Alex Burg, the team’s coordinator of run production, were given permission to seek other employment opportunities.

Elsewhere

Eddie Robinson, the oldest living former major league player whose more than six decades in professional baseball included being general manager for two teams, died at his ranch in Bastrop, Texas. He was 100. Robinson was the last surviving player from the 1948 World Series champion Cleveland Indians.