ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Rays hadn’t lost consecutive games in almost three weeks entering Game 2 of the American League Championship Series on Tuesday.
They still haven’t.
A key trade deadline acquisition had a massive part in it, as starter Freddy Peralta allowed just four hits and two walks with six strikeouts in six innings of a 3-1 victory over the visiting Cleveland Guardians. Acquired in an August deal with the New York Mets in exchange for three minor leaguers, Peralta threw 68 of 99 pitches for strikes.
Middling with the Mets, Peralta, 30, continues to flourish in Tampa Bay.
The right-hander posted 5-2 record with a 3.25 ERA in 10 regular-season starts with the Rays, including a September run when he went 4-0 with a 0.96 ERA and was named the AL Pitcher of the Month. Peralta followed that with a 4 2/3-inning, one-run effort in a Game 2 win over the New York Yankees in the American League Division Series. On Tuesday, he hit a season-high with a 99.4 mph fastball.
“I define myself as a competitor, and I like these kinds of games,” said Peralta, a two-time All-Star in his first eight MLB seasons with the Milwaukee Brewers. “I’ve always said it in the past, that I enjoy this.
“As a Dominican pitcher, I grew up watching the games in New York, and that’s the game that you see,” he continued, “and I get used to that because I grew up watching it, and I feel that I have that in me, in myself, and that’s the way that I feel when I’m on the mound in these kind of games.”
Cleveland left-hander Parker Messick entered the day with a 2-1 record and 1.03 ERA in four career starts against the Rays. The rookie allowed three unearned runs on six hits and two walks, with three strikeouts in five innings. The loss was his second of three postseason starts.
“Jose Ramirez is as good as any third baseman there is in the game,” he said. “And we were fortunate to maybe catch a break there. But once you catch a break, it’s kind of what you do with it.”
CONTAINMENT: Tampa Bay limited the Guardians to one run by holding their lineup core of Ramirez and Chase DeLauter relatively in check at 2-for-6 with an RBI collectively and shutting down Jo Adell, who had delivered a game-sealing two-run double in Cleveland’s 7-3 victory in Game 1 on Monday.
On Tuesday night, DeLauter walked after Ramirez had singled with two outs in the fifth and stolen second. However, Peralta induced a lineout from Adell to end the threat with Tampa Bay leading, 3-0.
In the seventh, DeLauter delivered a two-out, run-scoring double after left-hander Ian Seymour had entered in a platoon match-up, but Adell struck out to snuff the rally. Adell finished 0-for-4.
J-RAM: Still, Ramirez has reached base safely in 14 consecutive postseason games, tying him for second-longest such streak in Cleveland history. A 16-game run by teammate Steven Kwan from 2022-24 leads the club. Jim Thome managed a 14-game streak from 1996-98.
Ramirez had recorded an RBI in four straight postseason games, which is tied with Jim Thome (Oct. 11, 1998 to Oct. 7, 1999) for the longest streak in Cleveland postseason history.
Kwan and DeLauter have hit safely in six straight games, the longest active streaks in the 2026 postseason.
RALLY-KILLER: Cleveland looked to have completed a third double play by the fourth inning when Victor Mesa Jr. bounced to second baseman Travis Bazzana, but Mesa Jr. was ruled safe at first after a Rays challenge.
The Tropicana Field crowd was roaring for Mesa and Junior Caminero — who had a leadoff walk — to potentially be safe when video replays focused on shortstop Brayan Rocchio’s pivot at second base. After a long delay, video officials ruled that he had made shoe contact with the base while taking in Bazzana’s feed. The out call stood on Caminero at second, but Mesa was safe at first.
“It looked like we didn’t quite get a good exchange on that ball,” Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt said. “We didn’t quite get a good feed and quick turn. Any time your rhythm gets broken up on a double-play ball like that, it’s going to be tough to really turn it. I thought we had a couple plays on defense that we normally convert things.”
That reversal became crucial, with speedy Chandler Simpson reaching on a high-chopped single with two outs and Ramirez allowing a Ben Williamson grounder through his legs for a 1-0 Rays lead. Liam Hicks then lashed a two-run single to give Tampa Bay a 3-0 edge after five innings.