TAMPA, Fla — Tampa Bay Rays starter Ryan Pepiot got roughed up by the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday night. He gave up six runs and nine hits — both career highs — in a 7-4 loss at Steinbrenner Field.
That was very much out of character for Pepiot, who joined the Rays in early 2024 as part of the Tyler Glasnow trade with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He’s been very good since arriving in Florida, going 17 consecutive starts allowing three earned runs or fewer before Tuesday night’s outing ended the streak.
How good was that run? It’s the fourth-longest streak in club history, behind only Shane McClanahan’s 23 straight starts in 2021-22, Drew Rasmussen’s run of 19 straight in 2021-22 and Glasnow’s 18 straight from 2018 to 2020.
“They came out swinging out of the gates,” Pepiot said after the game in the Rays’ clubhouse. “Going into it, kind of the approach was they had some guys that were a little bit passive, and you could open up the entirety of the zone early. And they kind of just came out swinging on every single fastball.
“It felt like they were on everything. Hitting the ball the other way, hitting balls hard, homers — it just felt like everything that they hit just missed our guys. “It sucks. You never want to have those days.”
Boston scored at least once in each of the first four innings against Pepiot. Red Sox third baseman Alex Bregman — who went 5-for-5 on the night with two home runs — had an RBI single in the first, and outfielder Jarren Duran had a two-run homer in the second. Bregman homered in the third and had an RBI double in the fourth.
Pepiot made it through six innings, ending his night with eight straight outs. He left with the Rays trailing 6-2. Tampa Bay got two runs in the ninth, but came up short, falling to 8-9 on the year. Boston is 9-10, with both teams two games behind the New York Yankees in the American League East standings. The Yankees will be in Tampa for four games with the Rays this weekend.
The two teams are back in action Wednesday night in a 7:05 p.m. ET game. Zack Littell (0-3, 6.88 ERA) will pitch for the Rays, while Sean Newcomb (0-2, 4.98 ERA) gets the call for Boston.
