Freddy Peralta turned Tropicana Field into his own fastball lane Tuesday night, overpowering Cleveland for six scoreless innings in Game 2 of the American League Championship Series. Tampa Bay’s Trade Deadline pickup worked deeper into a postseason game than he ever had before, bringing heat from the first pitch through his final out.
The Rays right-hander threw 99 pitches, his largest workload since joining Tampa Bay, and 71 of them were four-seam fastballs. Cleveland knew what was coming often enough. It did not make the pitch any easier to handle.
Quick facts
- Peralta blanked the Guardians for six innings in ALCS Game 2 at Tropicana Field.
- He used 71 four-seam fastballs among his 99 total pitches.
- His 99.4 mph fastball in the fifth was the hardest pitch of his nine-year Major League career.
- Peralta reached at least 97 mph 29 times and struck out six.
- The Rays scored three unearned runs in the fourth after a two-out José Ramírez error.
Peralta’s biggest gear showed up in the fifth. Jo Adell fouled off a 99.4 mph four-seamer, the fastest reading Peralta has produced in the majors. Peralta followed with another fastball at 99.0 mph, getting a lineout to center that left two Cleveland runners aboard.
The outing continued a late-season rise in Peralta’s velocity. In his previous postseason start, a win over the Yankees in Game 2 of the AL Division Series, he had touched 97 mph or better 20 times, then a personal high. He surpassed that mark against the Guardians, reaching the threshold 29 times.
Three of his four-seamers reached 99 mph or more. Before Tuesday, Peralta had hit that level only five times in his career.
Tampa Bay gave him breathing room in the fourth. The Rays pushed across three runs, all unearned after Guardians third baseman José Ramírez made a two-out error, putting Peralta in position to collect what would be just his second postseason victory.
There was no fade in the sixth. Peralta retired Cleveland in order, then finished his night by striking out Petey Halpin on a changeup in the zone for his sixth punchout. He screamed as he came off the mound while the Tropicana Field crowd answered with chants of “Freddy! Freddy!”
