ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Detroit Tigers played like the Tampa Bay Rays to beat the Tampa Bay Rays.

Veteran shortstop Javier Báez led the way with hard hits, aggressive base running and sharp defense. For years, the Rays have feasted on that recipe to down opposing teams, but in Monday's opener of a three-game series at Tropicana Field, it was the Tigers chowing down en route to a 7-1 win.

Left-hander Tarik Skubal, who commands a 1.82 ERA with 35 strikeouts in 29⅔ innings, received more than enough run support as he dominated for six scoreless innings on 86 pitches, striking out nine without a walk.

It was his best of five starts this season.

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The Tigers (13-10) took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Mark Canha launched a solo home run to left-center field off right-hander Zack Littell.

After that, the Tigers played a fun brand of baseball.

Báez ripped a 93 mph sinker — 109.5 mph exit velocity — to center for an RBI single with two outs in the second inning. He took second base on an unsuccessful throw home from the center fielder, and soon after he raced home from second base on a throwing error by shortstop José Caballero.

Those plays put the Tigers ahead, 3-0.

Báez took similar action in the fifth inning when he ripped a middle-down slider — featuring a 109.6 mph exit velocity — for a single to center. He advanced to second base on a single then scored from second base on another throwing error by Caballero. Canha, the next batter, delivered an RBI single.

Those plays extended the lead to 5-0.

Jake Rogers put pressure on the Rays' defense with a single in the second inning, and Riley Greene did the same in the fifth inning. The hits led to Caballero's throwing errors and Báez's runs.

Here's a positive sign: Báez has notched five of his six hardest hits this season across the past five days. The five exit velocities: a 109.6 mph single Monday, a 109.5 mph single Monday, a 109.1 mph double Thursday, a 108.8 mph double Thursday and a 108.4 mph single Sunday.

Báez produced his hardest hit, a 110.4 mph exit velocity, on a single in the first weekend of the season.

Skubal driving

Skubal, meanwhile, absolutely dominated.

He generated 13 whiffs on 42 swings with five sinkers, two fastballs, three changeups and three sliders. The lefty faced a lineup full of right-handed hitters, utilizing changeups and sliders away to set up strikeouts on the inside part of the plate with sinkers and fastballs.

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He threw more sinkers than four-seamers for the second start in a row.

The nine strikeouts: Harold Ramírez (swinging, 96.4 mph sinker) in the first inning, Randy Arozarena (called, 96.1 mph sinker), Isaac Paredes (swinging, 86.3 mph changeup) and Caballero (swinging, 97.5 mph sinker) in the second, Jose Siri (called, 97.9 mph sinker) in the third, Curtis Mead (swinging, 97.5 mph sinker) and Siri (swinging, 98.6 mph sinker) in the fifth and, finally, René Pinto (called, 96.9 mph sinker) and Amed Rosario (swinging, 86.5 mph slider) in the sixth.

Skubal averaged 96.8 mph with his fastball.

He threw his fastest pitch of the season — a 99.7 mph fastball — for a ball to Siri before striking him out in the third inning.

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Skubal also received help from his defense.

Rogers, who called a superb game behind the plate and collected two hits, threw out Rosario trying to steal second base to end the first inning. In the fifth, Báez fielded a ball off his back foot on a difficult hop and threw a laser to first to take an infield single away from Caballero.

Skubal shouted in excitement.

Báez just smiled.

Meadows finds the beach

Parker Meadows has been slumping at the plate all season, hitting .093.

He delivered a much-needed home run in the sixth inning, giving a 427-foot ride to a middle-middle slider from Littell. His solo homer put the Tigers ahead, 6-0, and completed the damage against Littell.

Meadows is hitting .093 with two homers in 21 games.

The Tigers pushed their lead to 7-0 in the seventh inning with Kerry Carpenter's RBI double off right-handed reliever Chris Devenski. He has an eight-game hitting streak and a seven-game RBI streak.

In the eighth, the Rays scored their only run on Caballero's solo home run off right-handed reliever Shelby Miller.

Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers roast Rays, 7-1, behind Tarik Skubal, Javier Báez