Rays 1 Brewers 0: Pepiot near perfect, and we needed that

It’s a sign of how poorly the Rays offense has been going that when they loaded the bases in the first inning with no one out (on a hit batter and two walks — Brewers pitcher Bryce Wilson struggled to get anything over the plate) I just assumed they wouldn’t score. They did, but in the most depressing of ways: a double play that got a run in but pretty much killed any chance at a real rally.

And...that one run was all the scoring we’d get. The Rays scattered some singles, with three of those base runners erased on the base paths (Siri caught stealing on a Brewers throw that was both good and lucky; Nico Goodrum picked off first and then thrown out at second base, Jose Caballero caught stealing in the ninth when it might have been nice to add an insurance run.) I’m a fan of the Rays aggressiveness on the bases. Especially these days when their offensive output just a few measly singles, they should try to grab an extra base when they can. So I’m not allowed to complain about losing three baserunners this way, but it stings.

The last place I wanted to be was watching the Rays try to close out a one run game in the bottom of the ninth, and that feeling of dread intensified when the Brewer’s right fielder Sal Frelick lined Jason Adam’s first pitch into left field for a double.

The Rays got the first out albeit on a hard line drive, and then Adam walked Willy Adames to put the winning run on base.

At that point I turned off the game because how much aggravation can a fan take? I did see that there was a brouhaha over a Jake Bauer strikeout and batter interference call that forced the Brewer’s lead runner to return to third base after the ball got by Rene Pinto. (edit: it was not called interference! See below). At some point the Brewers had the bases loaded because but ultimately Adam made the pitches for a final strikeout, preserving the Rays 1-0 lead.

The Rays anemic offense and ulcer-inducing final half inning were so annoying that I’ve almost forgotten to main story for the Rays tonight: the dominant performance of Ryan Pepiot. He had all his pitches working well for six innings of two-hit, no walk ball. Add to that two near perfect innings from relievers Shawn Armstrong and Kevin Kelly, and you’ve got yourself a very well pitched game.

It’s nice to break the losing streak, even if this game was hardly a Rays masterpiece. Next task: win a series!

Note: Steve Carney was kind enough to explain the rule that covered the Bauers strikeout in the ninth inning: