Pepiot's gem proves he's ready to shine with Rays

CLEARWATER, Fla. -- Ryan Pepiot had plenty of reasons to feel encouraged after his five-inning performance in the Rays’ 6-5 win over the Phillies on Thursday afternoon at BayCare Ballpark.

He pitched quick innings without working too quickly. He pounded the strike zone. He maintained his velocity into the fifth, with his firmest fastball of the day being one of his last. And good results followed: He held Philadelphia to just one hit (a solo homer by Kody Clemens that bounced off the top of the left-field fence) while striking out six.

“I just kept calm, cool, collected the whole time and didn’t let things speed up too much,” Pepiot said. “It was a good day, mixing all the pitches and getting ahead of guys -- exactly what we talk about here.”

After a couple uneven outings to begin Spring Training, Pepiot had those messages reinforced to him by pitching coach Kyle Snyder during a back-field outing before his last start against the Twins. He and catcher René Pinto carried them into Thursday’s game, and it was obvious from the jump as he breezed through a nine-pitch first inning with two strikeouts.

“That was fun to watch with Pepiot, for sure. Good to see him have a really good outing, build off the outing in Minnesota the other day,” manager Kevin Cash said. “Pretty dominant stuff against a lot of good hitters that Philly threw out.”

Pepiot relied on his fastball, which averaged 94.9 mph and maxed out at 96.1 in the fifth. His changeup was his go-to weapon, yielding six swinging strikes on the 19 he threw. The Phillies had trouble squaring up his slider, and he sprinkled in his new curveball a couple times. And he threw 42 of his 54 pitches for strikes, displaying the kind of commitment to the zone the Rays hope to see a lot more of this season.

“It was just changing things up and kind of keeping them on their toes and using things to one side of the plate and back to the other, top of the zone and down,” Pepiot said.

Around the horn

• Brandon Lowe took a 94.8 mph sinker off his left forearm in the first inning but avoided any significant injuries. He felt fine enough to remain in the game and went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts.

• Yandy Díaz started the game with a projected 407-foot homer to left-center field. It was his third home run of the spring, and they’ve all been leadoff shots.

• The Rays played some slick middle-infield defense in the fourth inning, when shortstop José Caballero and second baseman Amed Rosario made back-to-back highlight-reel plays behind Pepiot.

• Richie Palacios and Curtis Mead produced the winning run with consecutive two-out doubles in the top of the ninth against Minor League lefty Taylor Lehman.

“[Palacios has] really been impressive with the bat, and [it was] good to see Curtis get a hold of the ball the other way,” Cash said. “And look, now it's starting to matter where that's a big hit, to feel that going into this last week of games.”

TV schedule announced

Bally Sports Sun announced the network will produce and air 157 Rays games during the regular season. Bally Sports will carry every Rays game that isn’t airing exclusively on a national platform, such as Apple (Friday Night Baseball) or Fox Sports. The schedule is subject to change, and select games may air on Bally Sports Florida for some viewers.

Play-by-play announcer Dewayne Staats is returning for his 27th season as the Rays’ TV voice, and in-game analyst Brian Anderson is back for his 14th season in the booth. Tricia Whitaker is entering her sixth season as Bally Sports’ Rays reporter and host of the “Rays All-Access” show. Andy Freed, entering his 20th season in the radio booth, will again work select games as the TV play-by-play announcer.

Rich Hollenberg is returning for his 11th season as a pregame/postgame host, and Doug Waechter is beginning his 10th season as an analyst. Tampa natives and former Rays Matt Joyce and Denard Span are back for their second year on the broadcast team. Ryan Bass will also return for his third season as a reporter and host on the TV broadcast.

Up next

There’s rain in the forecast throughout the day, but the Rays are scheduled to face the Twins on Friday afternoon at Charlotte Sports Park. It’s expected to be a bullpen day for Tampa Bay’s staff, with lefty Garrett Cleavinger taking the mound first.

First pitch is set for 1:05 p.m. ET. The telecast will be available on Bally Sports Sun and free to watch on MLB.TV, and a Rays Radio webcast will be available on MLB.com.