Peralta blanks Guardians for six as Rays even ALCS

Rays manager Kevin Cash told reporters that they’ll go game-by-game with their entire pitching staff for the remainder of the series following Peralta’s outing. The 30-year-old former Brewers ace limited the Yankees to one run over 4 2/3 innings during his Tampa Bay playoff debut last week.

Peralta was gone from the contest by the time Tampa Bay erupted for four runs in the fifth inning. He did his job early on, limiting New York to just a solo homer by Ben Rice. He struck out three and only issued one walk. The 30-year-old has looked completely rejuvenated over the last couple weeks, posting a microscopic 0.79 ERA across 34 innings during his final six regular-season outings. He’ll be ready to take the ball if the Yankees somehow manage to get the best-of-five series to a winner-take-all contest.

Peralta was one of the most effective starters in baseball during the closing month of the regular season where he posted a 0.96 ERA and 23/9 K/BB ratio across five starts in the month of September. The 30-year-old former Brewers ace will be making his seventh career postseason start and 10th appearance overall since 2018.

Peralta’s Tampa Bay resurgence concluded nicely, at least for the regular season, with another strong outing here. The first five innings were a breeze with five scattered base runners, but he ran into trouble during his third time around the Phillies’ order in the sixth with consecutive base hits to start the frame. At that point, he was pulled and reliever Cam Booser escaped the jam without letting either inherited runner score. Peralta’s fastball continues to gain velocity and it averaged a shade over 96 mph in this start, nearly two ticks above his season average. That pitch also had an extra inch of induced vertical break and he’s entering the postseason without allowing more than one earned run in six straight starts.

Peralta held the Red Sox scoreless through two innings before giving up a run on a pair of doubles in the third. He went on to pitch into the sixth without giving up another run, leaving with one runner on and two outs at 97 pitches. He struck out six. The 30-year-old right-hander will take a 4.56 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, and a 152/60 K/BB ratio across 163 2/3 innings into a start against the Phillies in Philadelphia on Friday.

Peralta was outstanding on Sunday, holding the Astros scoreless through five no-hit innings. He stranded three walks and collected four strikeouts. Peralta had no pressure in this one as he got 11 runs of support before departing at 86 pitches. The 30-year-old right-hander will take a 4.67 ERA, 1.34 WHIP, and a 146/58 K/BB ratio across 158 innings into a start against the Red Sox in Tampa Bay on Saturday.

Peralta gave up five hits, walked one and struck out two. He improved to 8-11 with the win. Peralta has now won his last three starts in a row while allowing only two runs in 18 innings. He’s lined up to face the Astros at home on Sunday.

Peralta gave up three hits, walked none and struck out seven. He improved to 7-11 on the season with the win. Peralta allowed a solo home run in the first inning before settling in and putting up a quality start. He has a 4.62 ERA and 27 strikeouts in 33 1/3 innings over six starts since coming to the Rays at the trade deadline. Peralta has a 4.96 ERA this year. He’s lined up to face the Braves on the road next week.

Peralta allowed just two hits and no walks while striking out four. He posted a 62 percent strike rate with a 30 percent CSW and a 12 percent swinging strike rate on the day. This was easily his best performance as a member of the Rays, and the first time he’s allowed no runs in a start since June 25th. Actually, it’s only the third time he’s allowed no runs in a start all season. As we expected, the Rays continue to have Peralta lean on his changeup more, even to righties, and he had a 31 percent swinging strike rate on the pitch on Tuesday. To righties, he located the pitch far better in the zone, but he focused on chases outside of the zone against lefties. He’ll look to keep it going with a revenge game of sorts against the Mets on Wednesday; although, it’s unclear who would want revenge on whom.

Peralta got off to a bit of a rough start in this one. After allowing back-to-back hits to lead off the inning, one of which was an RBI single by Pete Alonso to score Jackson Holliday from second, he then walked Gunnar Henderson to put runners on first and second with no outs. He was fortunate enough to get out of the inning thanks to a double play ball by Samuel Basallo, but in the top of the second inning he would surrender a leadoff homer to Dylan Beavers to cut the Rays’ lead to 3-2. Peralta wouldn’t allow a run over the next two innings, but a sacrifice fly by Jackson Holliday in the fifth inning followed by a two-run homer by Pete Alonso put the O’s back on top 5-3. Peralta wouldn’t allow another run over his last two innings of work, but the Orioles got the best of him after managing just two runs against him when they faced off last week. Peralta’s next start is set for Wednesday on the road against the Tigers.