TROPICANA FIELD (St. Petersburg, Fla.) â Game 2 of the ALCS was simple for the Rays.Â
Just win.Â
After watching a two-run lead slip away in Mondays series opener, the last thing Tampa Bay wanted was to fall further behind against the Guardians and leave their home turf in a serious deficit. So all they had to do was respond.Â
Rays manager Kevin Cash liked the way his players walked into the ballpark on Tuesday after suffering a deflating loss. He thought they were in a good headspace to even the series, reset the matchup, and regain their confidence.Â
So they did. The Rays defeated the Guardians, 3-1, on Tuesday night at Tropicana Field on the strength of their pitching and usual basepath pressure.
Here are my takeaways:
The Rays are always creating pressure on the basepaths. Theyre adept at spotting weaknesses in their opposition and exposing those flaws. And yet, even the Rays had to be surprised at the Guardians player who made not one, but two eyebrow-raising mistakes in a pivotal fourth inning.
Guardians third baseman Jose Ramirez forgot to cover the bag in one play. In another, he committed a fielding error when he couldnt corral a ground ball that was hit to the hot corner. Both were plays he has completed an untold amount of times across his 14-year career. Both plays opened the door for the Rays to score multiple runs.
The first Ramirez gaffe came on a Chandler Simpson groundball to short. Guardians shortstop Brayan Rocchio was never going to get the speedy Simpson out at first base. Rays outfielder Victor Mesa Jr., who was on base with a forceout, seemed to know that, or he was happy to keep sprinting either way, since there were two outs in the fourth inning at that point. As Mesa rounded second base and Simpson was called safe at first, Ramirez wasnt covering third. Mesa didnt hesitate, making it to third â standing up.
That put runners on the corners for Rays second baseman Ben Williamson, with Guardians talented rookie southpaw Parker Messick on the mound in a scoreless game. Messick needed just one more out to get out of the inning unscathed. He thought he had that out when Williamson lined a routine chopper to third base that shouldve been vacuumed by Ramirez. Instead, it went between Ramirezs legs and into left field, easily scoring Mesa from third.Â
The Rays continued to capitalize. Catcher Liam Hicks roped a two-run single to center field to clear the bases and give Tampa Bay a 3-0 lead. All three runs were unearned. Who wouldve guessed, after all the positive impacts Ramirez has made for Cleveland, that the Rays big fourth-inning rally would be sparked by the unlikeliest player?
Right-hander Freddy Peralta watched Rays center fielder Johnny DeLuca secure a fly out for the final out of the fifth inning. Then he turned toward the Rays dugout and let out a primal scream. He was fired up. Typically, thats the ceiling for Peralta, earning him the social-media nickname, “Five-Inning Freddy.” But he had more heat left in the tank. With the Rays leading 3-0, manager Kevin Cash sent him back out for the sixth.Â
Peralta stepped up to pitch his only clean inning of the night, retiring Nathaniel Lowe, Travis Bazzana and Petey Halpin in order to end his terrific outing on the highest of notes. Across eight career postseason starts, Tuesday night was the first time Peralta completed six innings in the playoffs. He relied on his high heater and his adjusted mechanics, including pitching from the stretch, to get him there.
The Rays have trusted the veteran from the moment the Mets traded him to Tampa Bay this summer. In the regular season, he already showed them why they can continue to put their faith in him as their No. 2 starter behind ace Drew Rasmussen. But continuing to perform in October, on the sports grandest stage, under megawatt lights? Thats a different animal.
Cash was under fire on Monday after failing to u
