The Rays answered the Guardians’ Game 1 rally with a clean, efficient Game 2 win, and they did it by cashing in on the kind of opening Cleveland rarely gives away.
After a quiet start from both offenses, Tampa Bay broke through in the fourth inning when the Guardians helped open the door. Jose Ramirez’s error on a Ben Williamson grounder put the Rays on the board, scoring Victor Mesa Jr. Liam Hicks then came up and attacked the first pitch he saw, driving a single to right-center that brought home Chandler Simpson and Williamson, who had moved to second during the at-bat.
That was all Tampa Bay needed.
Freddy Peralta took care of the rest, and then some. He turned in six shutout innings, the longest postseason start of his career, and looked in control from start to finish.
Peralta allowed four hits, walked two and struck out six. It also marked his eighth straight start, including the postseason, in which he has allowed one run or fewer.
In four of those outings, he didn’t allow a run at all.
The Rays’ bullpen had been shaky in Game 1, so Kevin Cash leaned on his best arms this time. Ian Seymour gave up the Guardians’ only run on a double to Chase DeLauter, but he steadied things after that and handed the ball off to Bryan Baker with a 3-1 lead. Baker finished it off with a spotless ninth, striking out one and recording his 34th straight save, postseason included.
The series now shifts with a day off before Game 3 on Oct. 15 at Progressive Field. Nick Martinez is expected to start for Tampa Bay as the Rays look to move ahead 2-1.
In Other News...
Jose Ramirez's Costly Meltdown Just Opened A Big Door For Rays
The Rays got a timely boost in Game 2 of the American League Championship Series when Guardians third baseman Jose Ramirez helped turn one fourth-inning sequence into a mess. Cleveland wound up handing Tampa Bay three runs in the inning, a swing that changed the feel of the game and gave the Rays a much-needed opening as the series moved forward.
Ramirez owned the mistakes afterward and said the inning was frustrating, while Guardians manager Stephen Vogt stressed that sloppy plays have to be cleaned up before the series shifts back to Cleveland. For Tampa Bay, the takeaway is simpler: a postseason inning that looked headed nowhere suddenly became a real advantage, and those are the moments that can linger if the Guardians do not tighten things up quickly. [Read more 🡒]
Blake Snell Just Reopened A Kevin Cash Debate Rays Fans Know Well
Blake Snell was back in the postseason spotlight again, and with him came a familiar Rays conversation that never seems to go away. In a recent National League Championship Series game, the Dodgers left-hander worked into the seventh inning before Jake Bauers and Garrett Mitchell went back-to-back for Milwaukee, changing the feel of the game in a hurry and reminding everyone how quickly October can turn on one decision.
For Tampa Bay fans, the debate is unavoidable because Snell has become the face of a long-running theory about pitchers losing effectiveness the deeper they go into a lineup. His career numbers have been used to illustrate that third-time-through-the-order danger, and every time a manager decides to keep him in, it pulls old Rays memories right back to the surface. Dave Roberts choice to stick with him only sharpened the parallels, even if the comparison still leaves plenty for Rays fans to argue about. [Read more 🡒]
Rays Fans Just Got Hit With A Brutal ALCS Game 3 Change
The ALCS is heading into a pivotal Game 3 with the series tied at one win apiece, but the start time has taken a sharp turn. Major League Baseball has pushed first pitch from 6 p.m. EDT to 1 p.m. EDT, with the matchup between the Rays and Guardians still set to air on TBS and related platforms.
Forecasted rain in Cleveland prompted the adjustment, a move MLB made to keep the series on schedule and reduce the risk of weather complications. For Tampa Bay, it means a much different rhythm for a game that suddenly has even more weight, with the next swing in the series now coming in the middle of the day instead of under the lights. [Read more 🡒]