ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. That was exactly what the doctor ordered.The Tampa Bay Rays, struggling to put together much offense during the past couple of weeks, busted our for four runs in the first inning Friday night and cruised to an easy 6-3 victory over the Chicago White Sox at Tropicana Field.They staked started Shane McClanahan with that big early lead and he never looked back, winning his fifth straight game and giving the Rays a rare victory in series openers. They are now 7-10 to open Tony Phillips Jersey a series, and 24-11 otherwise.The first inning bashing was impre sive considering that the Rays had hit just .178 over the past eight games. They roughed up Chicago rookie Davis Martin, who was called up from Triple-A Charlotte to pitch when Vince Velasquez was scratched from his scheduled start with a groin injury and forced to the 15-day injured list.After McClanahan struck out the side in the top of the first, the Rays' bats went to work. Yandy Diaz doubled with one out, and Manuel Margot walked, with Diaz advancing to third on a wild pitch. Ji-man Choi then hit a long fly ball to center field that scoredDiaz.Harold Ramirez kept the drive alive with an RBI single, and then Randy Arozarena followed with a two-run homer to right field to make it 4-0. It was his sixth home run of the season tying Kevin Kiermaier for the team lead and it was his second in three days.Scroll to ContinueMcClanahan (6-2) was impre sive all night. He was touched for single runs in the third and sixth, with Jose Abreu hitting a solo homer in the sixth to make it 4-2. He left after six innings, throwing 92 pitches and allowing just those two runs and six hits. He had eight strikeouts, giving him an MLB-leading 89 strikeouts on the season.The Rays added two Catfish Hunter Jersey insurance runs in the seventh inning. Diaz walked and Margot singled, and the Choi hit a two-run double into the corner in right, giving him three RBIs on the night.Shawn Armstrong, who was just called up from Triple-A Durham earlier this week, came on to pitch the ninth inning for Tampa Bay. He gave up three singles and then hit Abreu, so Colin Poche had to come on. But he struck out Luis Robert to pick up his third save, all in the past week.The Rays have now won three straight games and at 31-21 are 10 games over .500 for the first time all season. The two teams will get after it again on Saturday, with Drew Rasmu sen starting for the Rays and Dylan Cease pitching for the White Sox. Game time is at 4:10 p.m. ET. The series wraps up on Sunday with a 1:10 p.m. game.Related stories on Rays baseballTOM BREW COLUMN: Tampa Bay's anemic offense woke up just in time on Rickey Henderson Jersey Wednesday night, and then was just active enough to win again on Thursday. It's a miracle that they've won four games in eight days against the Yankees and Rangers despite hitting .178 Reggie Jackson Jersey and only having 11 extra base hits in 252 at bats. But they'll take it.KLUBER SHUTS DOWN RANGERS (Thurs.): For the second time this week, the Tampa Bay Rays bounced back to split a four-game series after dropping the first two games, this time beating the Texas Rangers 3-1 thanks to some early timely hits and another great performance by starting pitcher Corey Kluber. RAYS WIN IN 11 INNINGS (Wed.) The struggling Rays offense finally got going late, erasing a two-run deficit and beating the Rangers 4-3 in 11 innings. RAYS SHUT OUT BY PEREZ, RANGERS (Tues.): Ryan Yarbrough's numbers this season are no indication of how well he's pitched. He's 0-2 with a 4.00 ERA now, but defensive miscues have added to that, as well as the fact that the Rays almost never score any runs for him. Here's our expanded ''Just For Starters'' story on Yarbrough's night on Tuesday, and how it mirrors many of his other appearances in May. RANGERS WIN SERIES OPENER (Mon.): Drew Rasmu sen has been Mr. Consistency for the Rays since he entered the starting rotation, but he struggled on Monday night, walking the first three hitters for the first time ever and giving up a career-high five runs in the 9-5 lo s to the Texas Rangers. ROB A HOMER, HIT A HOMER: Rangers outfielder Eli White had a huge stamp on Monday's game, stealing a three-run homer from the Rays' Matt Joyce Jersey Ji-Man Choi and then hitting a two-run homer himself. Highlights worth seeing.FROM LAST PITCH TO FIRST: Rays pitcher Drew Rasmu sen took us behind the scenes, showing us all of the dozens of hours of work that go into getting his body ready for a start. We track his actions from the last pitch of a start to the first one of the next start. To read Tom Brew's takeout, RAYS 2022 SCHEDULE: Here is the complete 2022 baseball schedule for the Tampa Bay Rays, with dates, locations and gametimes.