ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Two days after pitching (briefly) out of the bullpen, Tampa Bay Rays starter Freddy Peralta delivered another effective outing.
His work in Game 6 of the American League Championship Series on Monday wasn’t as flashy as his Game 2 masterpiece, but it was effective enough for Peralta to seal the Most Valuable Player award as the Rays advanced to the World Series with a 7-3 win over the Cleveland Guardians.
Peralta tossed 5 1/3 innings on Monday, allowing one run on five hits with three walks and three strikeouts. He earned his second victory of the series, having fired six shutout innings to help Tampa Bay level the ALCS in Game 2 and then getting two outs for a hold in Game 4.
“This is for the boys!” Peralta shouted after being presented the MVP trophy.
Peralta flourished after a deadline trade brought him from a struggling situation with the New York Mets to Tampa Bay for three prospects.
The 30-year-old veteran went 5-2 with a 3.25 ERA in 10 starts with Tampa Bay to finish the regular season and was selected the AL Pitcher of the Month for September after going 4-0 with a 0.96 ERA over five starts and 28 innings. Through four postseason appearances (three starts) this month, Peralta is 2-0 with a 1.08 ERA.
Peralta’s renaissance is the result of a potent combination of a new glute-heavy workout regimen, pitching out of the stretch full time at the encouragement of the coaching staff and discovering a home-field advantage he couldn’t have better customized for himself.
“Fastball Freddy” possesses a calling-card four-seam fastball that has a tendency to stay flat deep into its path in home games, staying high in or just out of the strike zone, with extra velocity keeping it away from the barrels of wide-eyed hitters.
“You cannot fight with him up in the zone,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said.
FLAT, OUT: The performance of Guardians third baseman Jose Ramirez was emblematic of the stifling effort by Rays pitchers. The hero of a comeback from two-games-to-none down against the Chicago White Sox in the AL Division Series, Ramirez went 5-for-8 with two runs and an RBI in Games 1 and 3 wins against the Rays but 1-for-11 with no runs nor RBIs thereafter as Tampa Bay took the final three contests.
Rookie outfielder Chase DeLauter was similarly smothered before going 2-for-5 with two runs on Monday. And despite hitting a game-sealing two-run double in Game 1, Jo Adell finished 3-for-22 (.136) with just those two RBIs in the series.
When asked his advice for his players after falling short, Vogt said, “Let it hurt. Let it sink in.”
ARMS RACE: Cleveland used seven pitchers to account for eight innings on Monday. They allowed seven runs, seven hits and six walks while striking out just three.
Opener Shawn Armstrong, who pitched 1 1/3 innings out of the bullpen in Game 5 on Sunday, was charged with one run in Game 6, exiting after allowing a leadoff single to cleanup hitter Junior Caminero in the second. He threw nine pitches.
Replacement Tim Herrin nearly escaped what became a two-run Rays rally after a fielder’s choice and a walk to Victor Mesa Jr., but after a contorting check swing with two outs, Richie Palacios banged a two-run line-drive double to right-center.
Matt Festa ultimately escaped a bases-loaded jam in the inning.
Vogt said after his team’s Game 5 loss that workhorse starter Gavin Williams, who pitched in relief in the ALDS, was not available after starting and pitching five innings for the Guardians’ ALCS Game 3 win on Thursday. He noted that starter Tanner Bibee wasn’t used in the series at all because an opportunity never arose.
Cade Smith, who tied the Rays’ Bryan Baker for the American League lead in saves (41) in the regular season, worked the seventh, allowing a two-run homer to Caminero.