Not his best night, but Ryan Pepiot still manages to keep Rays close

TAMPA — Baseball protocol says a starting pitcher cannot possibly be happy if the scoreboard is not in his favor.

So Ryan Pepiot was appropriately somber after Monday night’s 4-3 loss to the Astros.

But, stepping back, it was a pretty inspiring performance for the Rays’ 27-year-old right-hander, who gave up three early runs in a four-batter sequence in the second inning and pitched from behind for the rest of the hot, muggy night at Steinbrenner Field.

Yet even without his best stuff, Pepiot managed to put up four consecutive zeroes until his offense got their bats going.

“It could have snowballed,” manager Kevin Cash said. “There was traffic on the bases, early on they were getting their hits … and he was frustrated. But he took a deep breath when he got through the inning and, I felt, threw a heck of a ballgame without being as sharp as we’ve seen him.”

His final stat line will not be immortalized in a scrapbook. Pepiot gave up eight hits and one walk in his six innings of work and only managed two strikeouts. But, by the time he left, Pepiot had his sixth quality start, tying Zack Littell for the team lead.

Pepiot had cruised through the first inning on eight pitches and retired the first two batters in the second before surrendering a homer, a walk, a double and a single in succession.

“Starting pitchers are supposed to go deep into ballgames,” Pepiot said. “So you can’t let one inning define the outing, and one inning snowball. I got two outs and then they put up three real quick. It felt like I threw four pitches and it was 2-0.

“Just, you know, sit down, watch the video of it. See where you missed, see what you need to work on. Didn’t feel like I was overly sharp today. The stuff wasn’t 100%. The slider wasn’t sliding as much, the changeup I was leaving it in.”

With the Rays tying in the bottom of the sixth, Pepiot ended up with a no decision. The Rays are 1-6 in his last seven starts, but Pepiot has only gotten 2.45 runs of support over nine innings during that stretch.

“the guys put in so much hard work and effort trying to do what we can to win all these ballgames,” Pepiot said. “One inning. I can’t let that snowball and I can’t let that happen where it ends up being a three-inning start where I give up more than that. I have to bear down, figure it out and get out so our guys have a chance.”

Tuesday: vs. Astros

7:05, Steinbrenner Field

Pitchers: Rays — RH Zack Littell (3-5, 4.31); Astros — LH Brandon Walter (2-1, 2.27 at Triple-A)

TV/radio: FanDuel Sports Sun; 95.3-FM, 620-AM, 106.7-FM (Spanish)

Info: raysbaseball.com

On deck

Wednesday: vs. Astros, 1:10. Rays, RHP Taj Bradley (3-3, 4.80); Astros, RH Hunter Brown (6-2, 1.43)

Thursday: Off

Friday: vs. Blue Jays, 7:05, Rays, RH Drew Rasmussen (2-4, 2.93); Jays, TBA

Saturday: vs, Blue Jays, 7:05. Rays, RH Shane Baz (3-3, 5.33 ); Jays, TBA

Sunday: vs. Blue Jays, 1:40. Rays, RH Ryan Pepiot (2-5, 3.99); Jays, TBA

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Not his best night, but Ryan Pepiot still manages to keep Rays close

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