Rays go to bullpen in a tie game and — guess what — it doesn’t go well

DETROIT — The Rays really did have some good things happen to them Tuesday.

Shane McClanahan, their top starter who has been sidelined by a nerve issue that halted his comeback from 2023 elbow surgery, made his first rehab start.

Ha-Seong Kim, the high-priced shortstop they surprisingly signed in February as he was recovering from shoulder surgery, returned to the lineup after leaving Friday’s season debut with a right calf cramp.

Junior Caminero, their just-turned-22 slugging third baseman, was added to the American League All-Star team, joining Jonathan Aranda and Brandon Lowe for the trip to Atlanta.

And while dinner plans in Boston may have been spoiled, the Tigers saved them a potentially long and wet day at Comerica Park by pushing back Wednesday’s series finale from a 1:10 p.m. start to 5:10, given a foreboding forecast.

But then there was Tuesday’s game.

The Rays got a solid start from Ryan Pepiot and played pretty much even with the majors-best Tigers through the first six innings.

But then manager Kevin Cash went to his bullpen and —no shock if you’ve been following along lately — it went quite poorly.

Edwin Uceta came in for the seventh inning, made the first mistake of walking the leadoff hitter, then a worse one by allowing a two-run homer to Colt Keith.

The 4-2 loss was the Rays’ fourth in the first five games of the road trip and eighth in their last 11 games, continuing a slide that has erased much of the ground they made up during a six-week run as the majors’ hottest team.

The Rays’ Jonathan Aranda celebrates in the dugout after scoring on a Josh Lowe single in the third inning, giving Tampa Bay a 2-0 lead. [ PAUL SANCYA | AP ]

And the bullpen has been the biggest part of the problem, with five of the losses directly in their hands and two wins essentially in spite of their efforts.

“It’s kind of been plaguing the group,” manager Keivn Cash said. “You feel for them right now. They’re going through it, like I said the other day in Minnesota, but confident that they’ll bounce back. It’s one pitch here or there.

“The things that stood out (Tuesday) for me, the entire game were the leadoff walks. I mean, we had a bunch of walks, hit by pitches. That team’s really good. They’re going to make the most of their opportunities, and we saw them do that.”

Uceta’s struggles also have stood out.

Particularly in contrast to his dazzling breakout performance last season, when he went 2-0 with five saves and a 1.51 ERA over 30 games. In 41 ⅔ innings, he walked eight and allowed two homers.

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After Tuesday’s fail, he is 5-2 with one save and a 5.77 ERA over 40 games. In 39 innings, he has walked 16 and allowed nine (!) homers.

Said Uceta, “it’s nothing mechanical, it’s nothing mental.”

“I’m not really frustrated,” he added. “That’s baseball. You have good days, and you have bad days.”

Rays pitcher Edwin Uceta, shown pitching in the seventh inning, allowed his ninth home run of the season Tuesday night, to the Tigers’ Colt Keith. [ PAUL SANCYA | AP ]

What he did cite as an issue was hitters adjusting to him now that they’ve seen him repeatedly, requiring him to adjust back.

That seems like something that would have come up earlier in his rough season, but he said he plans to address it now.

“Primarily, the whole team is having a bad moment right now, and the league and the other teams, they have made an adjustment to the way I pitch,” Uceta said via team interpreter Eddie Rodriguez.

“So, when we come back for the second half and starting like, (Wednesday), I’m going to have to study more and then have to make my adjustments, too.”

Cash said that was part of Uceta’s problem.

“I think it comes down to execution. Getting ahead, conviction with his pitches,” the manager said. “Obviously, the league knows him a little bit better now, and there’s plenty of video work out there and sequencing and tendencies and stuff like that. But his stuff’s really good. It’s just maybe under-performing a little bit right now.”

That seems a fair description of the bullpen in general, which has yielded multiple runs in six straight games and nine of 11. Over the last 15 games, its ERA is 7.57.

“Yeah, it’s not fun,” Ryan Pepiot said. “We’ve gone through it as starters where you have some rough ones in a row. So you know exactly what they’re going through. It just stinks that we’re on this run that we’re on and then it happens a few games in a row, and it makes it even bigger than it really, truly is.

“Over the course of 162 games, a few games where the bullpen has an off night, that’s going to happen. Just sucks that it happens a couple times.”

The Tigers’ Colt Keith, right, celebrates his two-run home run with Zach McKinstry during the seventh inning. It put Detroit ahead 4-2. [ PAUL SANCYA | AP ]

Like Cash, Pepiot said he has faith in the group — though more relevant with the trade deadline approaching is what baseball operations president Erik Neander thinks.

“There’s no wavering confidence and losing any confidence with those guys,” Pepiot said. “Still hand the ball over to them every single night and have confidence that they’re going to get the job done and have success. One of these days, (Wednesday), they’re going to come back out there, get the job done, and we’ll be able to forget about the past couple games.”

The ‘pen woes come with the Rays not playing well overall. They have given up four or more runs in nine straight games, which they hadn’t done since 2017. And their hitters haven’t been cobbling those multi-run innings which have served them well.

Some players have said the group is tired and looking to recharge at the All-Star break. Others say they’re just going through a bad stretch that’s part of any season.

“We have five games left until the break, just do what we can to squeeze out some wins, get a little bit of confidence going,” Pepiot said. “Over the course of 162 games, you’re going to have stretches where you play really well, like we already did, and then stretches like right now where you’re going to lose. And that’s baseball.

“Good thing is, we get to come back (Wednesday), play, figure it out. Detroit’s a really good team. To have two close ballgames, we’re just as good that shows, so we can do it. We’ve just got to get over the hump and get the win (Wednesday) and go into Boston and take a series over there and go into the All-Star break, rest, relax, get ready for the second half and win some ballgames, put a stretch together again.”

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