One weird inning enough to sink Rays in Seattle

SEATTLE – The Rays have been following a similar script in recent weeks – good pitching and not enough offense.

While this particular narrative continued in a 5-1 series-opening loss to the Mariners at T-Mobile Park on Monday night that put the Rays one game under .500 for the season at 65-66, at least the first part of that equation remained intact.

Starter Ryan Pepiot continued a solid season by going six innings to help the bullpen in the midst of a 10-game road trip and a stretch of 13 games in 13 days.

And if it weren’t for a strange third inning in which a rare error by third baseman José Caballero and a slow-rolling infield single by Cal Raleigh set the stage for former Rays slugger Randy Arozarena to hit a dramatic, game-altering three-run home run, victory music might have been blaring in the visitors’ clubhouse.

Alas, the Rays could only muster two hits – both by Josh Lowe – all night, and they dropped their fourth game in the past five.

“We’ve kind of been living like that here for quite some time, where there is really no margin for error,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “We get one play that doesn’t go our way and the other team puts some runs up. It’s just putting a lot of pressure on us right now.

“We’ve certainly got some guys that are not seeing the ball as well as they’re capable of, but they’re going to stay at it. They’ve stayed at it. Their energy has been good. We just have to find a way to score some more runs.”

It was tough to do that against Mariners right-hander Bryce Miller, who went seven innings and struck out 10. Lowe gave the Rays a brief 1-0 lead with a solo homer to right-center field in the top of the second, but Seattle answered with a homer of its own in the bottom of that frame when Jorge Polanco lined one off the base of the right-field foul pole.

Then the pivotal bottom of the third happened.

With one out, Julio Rodríguez hit what appeared to be a routine grounder to third base. Caballero was in perfect position to field it but lifted his glove up too early, allowing the ball to roll by him into left field for a very uncharacteristic error.

“He’s been unbelievable back there, whether he’s been playing third, short, or second,” Pepiot said. “He’s played really well at all three positions. You see him going out there and putting in the work that he does at each position. He’s been great back there. Errors happen. It’s part of the game, part of baseball.”

Right after that play, Raleigh’s 31 mph bouncer hugged the third-base line and hit the bag for an unlikely infield single, and Arozarena followed with the homer that effectively put the game away.

“Unfortunate in that moment, and probably the wrong guy in Randy coming up given the circumstance of playing his former team,” Cash said. “We’ve seen Randy do a lot of really special things and he came up and did it against us today.”

Still, the Rays are sticking together despite this difficult month. One example was Caballero saying after the game that Pepiot made a point of telling him not to sweat the error.

“He came up to me and said that he’s got my back,” Caballero said. “He’s just a good teammate and he always battles. He did well. I just made a mistake and they capitalized on my mistake.”

Another positive was Pepiot’s continued emergence. In his third start since returning from the 15-day IL because of a right knee infection, he allowed two earned runs. The last time he’s given up more than two earned runs in a start was June 15 at Atlanta.

“I think he probably threw a little bit better than what the stat line suggests,” Cash said. “He is on a good roll. Three starts now after coming back from his knee injury, and he looks pretty comfortable.”