Jonathan Aranda put on the kind of show that can flatten a game early and finish it with a flourish, launching two homers as the Rays rolled past the Astros 14-4 on Sunday afternoon at Tropicana Field.
Tampa Bay piled up 15 hits in front of 18,718 and completed a sweep of Houston, while Freddy Peralta once again set the tone on the mound. The Rays improved to 90-59, and Peralta earned the win after five scoreless innings in which he allowed no hits, walked three and struck out four. It was his fourth straight victory, and over his last five starts he has posted a 2.10 ERA (30IP/7ER) with a 0.73 WHIP while limiting opponents to a .163 average (17×104).
The win also gave the Rays their 90th of the season, their 10th 90-win campaign in franchise history. Every Rays starter picked up a hit, something the club had not done since July 9, 2025 at Detroit, and it was the first time it happened at Tropicana Field since September 24, 2023 against the Toronto Blue Jays.
Aranda was the headline act, finishing with two homers and giving Tampa Bay one of four long balls on the afternoon. The Rays also got homers from Nick Fortes and Richie Palacios. Victor Mesa Jr. came up a homer short of the cycle, going 3-for-5 with two RBI and three runs scored.
Mesa Jr. has now hit safely in nine straight games since September 4th, the longest active streak on the club and tied for the third longest in MLB. Over his last 21 games, he’s slashing .377/.427/.739 (26×69).
The Astros fell to 75-75, dropping back to .500 after Hayden Wesneski took the loss. Wesneski lasted three innings and was charged with seven runs, three earned, on six hits, with two strikeouts and two walks. He threw 62 pitches, 39 for strikes.
The Rays wasted no time getting to him. In the bottom of the first, Yandy Diaz singled and moved to third on a Junior Caminero double. Both runners scored when Victor Mesa Jr. ripped a standup triple, and Chandler Simpson followed with a ground ball back to the pitcher that brought Mesa Jr. home for a 3-0 lead.
Tampa Bay broke things open in the third. With two outs and runners on first and second, Jonny DeLuca lifted a soft popup into shallow left, where Jeremy Pena could not make the play.
Victor Mesa Jr. scored on the miscue, and Richie Palacios followed by blasting a three-run homer to make it 7-0. It was Palacios’ 10th homer of the season and his fifth in his last nine starts.
Aranda then added to the damage in the fourth, hitting his 20th homer of the year off Astros reliever Enyel De Los Santos. Victor Mesa Jr. doubled later in the inning and scored on a Chandler Simpson single to push the lead to 9-0.
Nick Fortes joined the home run party in the fifth with a two-run shot, his fifth homer of the season, and the Rays were in full control at 11-0.
Houston finally got on the board in the top of the sixth in Brody Hopkins’ big league debut. Hopkins walked Jeremy Pena and then gave up a two-run homer to Isaac Paredes, his 21st of the season, trimming the deficit to 11-2.
The Rays answered again in the seventh. Yandy Diaz singled in Richie Palacios, then Aranda came back up and drilled his second homer of the day, his 22nd of the season. It was Aranda’s second multi-homer game of his career, with the other coming on 4/24/26 against the Twins.
The Astros scratched out a little more in the eighth when Nick Allen and Nelson Velazquez hit back-to-back homers off Casey Legumina, cutting the margin to 14-4.
With the sweep, Tampa Bay claimed its MLB-leading 15th sweep of the season, breaking the franchise record of 14 set by the 2021 club. It was also the third time in franchise history the Rays have swept the Astros, along with July 10 through 12, 2015 at Tropicana Field and June 24 through 26, 2011 at Minute Maid Park.
The Rays have Monday off before opening a three-game series against the Athletics on Tuesday night at 6:40 p.m. Griffin Jax is set to start for Tampa Bay, with Jack Perkins going for the Athletics.
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Rays Just Strengthened Their AL East Grip In A Big Way
The Rays keep stacking up the kind of wins that make September feel a little more comfortable, and the latest came in a sweep of the Astros that helped them hold onto the top spot in the AL East. The offense did its part with contributions from Jonathan Aranda, Richie Palacios and Nick Fortes, giving Tampa Bay another one of those balanced nights that has become a calling card during this push.
Freddy Peralta set the tone by taking a no-hit bid deep into the game, and the pitching transition from there only underscored how much the Rays have leaned on depth all year. Victor Mesa Jr. also turned in a strong night at the plate, and with the division race still tight, Tampa Bay is suddenly in the kind of position where every sharp inning and every timely swing carries a little more weight. [Read more 🡒]
Chandler Simpson Is Giving The Rays A Rare Late-Season Story
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The accomplishment also underscored just how unusual Simpsons start to his big-league career has been. He has now put together back-to-back seasons with 40 or more stolen bases, and he talked about what it meant to do it in Atlanta in front of friends and family. For a Rays club looking for energy and identity down the stretch, Simpsons game has become a reminder that even in a long season, there can still be something fresh to watch. [Read more 🡒]