Pepiot sharp, but Rays stumped by Skubal in opener

DETROIT -- Entering the final week of the regular season on the farthest fringes of the postseason picture, the Rays knew they’d have to put together a virtually flawless road trip to keep their dwindling playoff odds from diminishing completely.

And with American League Cy Young Award frontrunner Tarik Skubal on the mound for the red-hot Tigers on Tuesday, Rays starter Ryan Pepiot knew he had to be nearly perfect on a rain-soaked afternoon at Comerica Park.

That made Pepiot’s frustrating fifth inning in a 2-1 loss to Detroit all the more agonizing. The Rays fell back below .500 (78-79) and dropped from four to five games out of the final American League Wild Card spot with five games remaining.

“It is frustrating. I know that we were on a good run. I still think we can be on a good run,” manager Kevin Cash said as Tampa Bay’s four-game winning streak ended. “We needed help before the game. We're going to need even more now. I think we were kind of of the mind that our best chance was to win out, and today, we didn't do that.”

Skubal was dominant as expected, permitting only two hits and one walk with seven strikeouts over seven innings. Tampa Bay’s lineup didn’t get a runner to second base against the AL leader in wins (18), ERA (2.39) and strikeouts (228). Brandon Lowe was responsible for the Rays’ only run, as he launched his 21st homer of the season to right off Beau Brieske with two outs in the ninth inning.

“[Skubal] has good stuff, obviously, and he just really pounds the strike zone,” catcher Ben Rortvedt said. “He’s just being really aggressive with his stuff in the zone and kind of puts you on your heels when he’s attacking the zone that hard.”

Pepiot had to be at the top of his game to trade zeros with Skubal, and he was. He allowed only one baserunner in the first three innings and impressively escaped a first-and-third, one-out jam in the fourth.

Then came the fifth, which left Pepiot upset at the end of the day despite allowing two earned runs or fewer for the 12th time in his past 13 starts.

After retiring the leadoff batter, Pepiot walked No. 8-hitting Trey Sweeney on a borderline full-count changeup. Jake Rogers then smacked a first-pitch single to left, putting two runners on for the top of Detroit’s lineup.

Leadoff man Parker Meadows fouled off Pepiot’s first two pitches to fall behind in the count, then he checked his swing on a changeup down and away. Upon appeal, third-base umpire Brennan Miller ruled that Meadows didn’t swing. After alternating foul balls and balls twice, Meadows turned and held his swing again on a full-count slider above the zone.

Once again, Miller ruled that Meadows checked his swing. Pepiot couldn’t hide his frustration on the mound, gesturing and barking in Miller’s direction.

“He's a competitor. I mean, look, those are tough calls,” Cash added. “They're very tough calls, and we've had them go in our favor, and we've had them not go in our favor. So I understand in the moment, as a pitcher out there, you want the calls.”

Pepiot politely declined to expand on the check-swing calls afterward, noting they were “50/50 calls and didn’t land the way I would have guessed.”

“I’m competitive, and I want those calls to go my way. They just didn’t happen to go my way today,” he said. “They’re frustrating, but I tried to make pitches after they didn’t go my way, and they made me pay for it.”

After retiring Kerry Carpenter, Pepiot found himself locked in another battle with Wenceel Pérez. The Tigers’ No. 3 hitter saw 26 of the 86 pitches Pepiot threw, including 11 while working a first-inning walk and six to draw another in the fourth.

Pérez made Pepiot throw eight pitches with the bases loaded in the fifth before pulling the ninth, a full-count cutter, down the right-field line for a two-run ground-rule double.

“He hit a good pitch. It was a ball in off the plate, should have been a little more up, but at that point, bases loaded, I’m not trying to walk a run in,” Pepiot said. “Tried to give him something that he would bite at and try to make some weak contact, but he got to it and put a good swing on it.”

Standing in front of his locker after the game, there was only one word Pepiot could use to describe the day.

“Frustrating,” he said. “Going into the game, you know our backs are against the wall and we’re facing a good pitcher over there, so I’m trying to limit any mistakes I make. They capitalized.”