DETROIT — Tampa Bay left-hander Ian Seymour surrendered a two-run homer to rookie center fielder Max Clark in the fifth inning and the Rays fell 4-1 to the Tigers at Comerica Park, squandering another strong stretch from a pitcher who has emerged as one of the club’s most reliable arms.
Seymour (9-5) went 5 2/3 innings, allowing four runs — three earned — on seven hits with five strikeouts and no walks after opener Casey Legumina threw 2 1/3 scoreless innings of one-hit ball with two strikeouts. Despite the loss, Seymour has now posted 38 strikeouts against only four walks over his last five outings, covering 28 2/3 innings, and entered the game with a 2.35 ERA over his previous four starts.
“They got the home run on a ball left kind of middle-middle,” said Rays manager Kevin Cash. “Other than that, I thought Ian threw the ball really well. Stuff was good, efficient, finished the game for us, which was really beneficial. But just not our day at the plate.”
Seymour placed the blame squarely on the sweeper he left over the plate to Clark. “I was mostly frustrated with the pitch to Clark,” Seymour said. “That’s something I’ve been working on and I didn’t make the right pitch there in the right spot. I was frustrated with my execution and that was the difference in the game. Ahh, just stuff to work on.”
Tampa Bay pitching coach Kyle Snyder said Seymour’s evolving repertoire has made him increasingly difficult to hit. “He creates space in terms of what the hitters do and how they have to adjust the barrel,” Snyder said. “It’s been pretty fun to watch.” Seymour acknowledged the progress but said allowing three earned runs over eight total innings of pitching still leaves room for growth. “It’s showing that the process of things we’ve been working on are successful in some areas,” he said. “But, with the runs allowed over the last month or so, there’s still room for improvement.”
The Rays managed just one run on five hits. Their best chance came in the fourth inning when Junior Caminero singled and Liam Hicks doubled for the team’s only extra-base hit. Jonny DeLuca drove home Caminero on an infield single, but Detroit rookie starter Jackson Jobe limited the damage, allowing one run in 4 1/3 innings before a Tigers bullpen that permitted just one single and one walk the rest of the way.
The fifth inning proved decisive beyond Clark’s homer. Gleyber Torres reached on a bloop single to right after DeLuca called for the ball but could not make the catch as second baseman Richie Palacios converged. “Calling that when I did, I had run a long way,” DeLuca said. “[But] if I call it, I’ve got to take it.” Torres later scored when first baseman Jonathan Aranda committed a fielding error on a ball hit by Kevin McGonigle.
Separately, left fielder Chandler Simpson’s 15-game hitting streak was retroactively ended after MLB announced a scoring change from the Aug. 20 game against Toronto. A hit originally scored as a single was changed to a two-base fielding error on the first baseman, reducing Simpson’s streak to 10 games. He entered the night with a four-game streak and went 0-for-3 with a walk, dropping his batting average to .308. The Rays continue their series in Detroit with the two clubs set to meet again at Comerica Park.