Rays win season-high 7th straight with team effort and tight finish

Marc Topkin, Tampa Bay Times on Sep 4, 2025

Published in Baseball

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TAMPA, Fla. — Ryan Pepiot worked five no-hit innings. Christopher Morel rapped three hits. Rookie Carson Williams delivered a run with a sacrifice bunt.

But what matters most this time of year is winning games, and the Rays did that, too, Thursday — for a season-high seventh straight time — beating the Guardians 4-2.

The Rays, who have won 10 of their last 12 games and 13 of 19, improved to 71-69.

More important, they moved to within two games of the idle Mariners, who hold the third American League wild-card spot. The Rangers are 1 ½ games back, and the Royals are also two back.

Pepiot gave the Rays a third straight scoreless start before being lifted for workload management reasons.

The no-hit bid didn’t last long after that, as reliever Bryan Baker gave up a single to Jose Ramirez with two outs in the sixth. It was the third time this season Rays pitchers have worked as much as 5 ⅔ innings without a hit; Joe Boyle and Mason Montgomery did so April 13 against Atlanta, Taj Bradley June 24 at Kansas City.

Concerned about Pepiot’s jump in innings from the 133 ⅓ he threw in an injury-interrupted 2024 season, the Rays have limited him to five innings in each of his last three starts. He now has 163 for the season, and manager Kevin Cash hinted that additional limits may be used.

Pepiot hit one batter, walked two and struck out six.

Pepiot, Baker, Garrett Cleavinger, Edwin Uceta and Pete Fairbanks teamed to finish a combined three-hitter, with Fairbanks allowing homers to the first two batters he faced in the ninth, then retiring three straight.

Though not quite as prolific as Wednesday, when they scored four runs in each of the first two innings, the Rays grabbed the early lead again Thursday.

Junior Caminero reached with two outs on a throwing error by shortstop Gabriel Arias, went to second on a single by Brandon Lowe and scored on the first of three singles by Morel.

The Rays made it 2-0 in the fourth when Morel singled, went to second on Jake Mangum’s walk, advanced to third on Nick Fortes’ one-out fly out and scored on an infield single by Williams.

They added two more in the sixth. Morel again got them started with a single, went to third on Mangum’s single and scored when he beat second baseman Brayan Rocchio’s throw after fielding pinch-hitter Josh Lowe’s grounder.

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