ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — With the crowd chanting his name, a fired-up Freddy Peralta pumped one fastball after another past hitters all night long.
Peralta threw six innings of four-hit ball, Liam Hicks lined a two-run single after José Ramírez's fielding error and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Cleveland Guardians 3-1 Tuesday night to even the AL Championship Series at 1-1.
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Game 3 of the best-of-seven series is Thursday night in Cleveland.
Peralta threw the hardest pitch of his big league career at 99.4 mph and relied on his four-seam fastball on 71 of 99 pitches — his 71.7% usage was his highest since June 11, 2019.
“It’s no secret that I trust in my fastball a lot and it’s my best pitch,” Peralta said.
Peralta's 96.9 mph average fastball velocity was 2.6 mph above his season average.
“It plays a big role, the adrenaline,” Peralta said. “And also I define myself as a competitor, and I like these kind of games. I’ve always said in the past, that I enjoyed this as a Dominican pitcher. I grew up watching the games in D.R., and that’s the game that you see. And I got used to that because I grew up watching it. And I feel that I have that in me, in myself. And that’s the way that I feel when I am on the mound in these kind of games.”
Peralta pumped a fist and screamed joyfully walking off the mound in the sixth after fanning Petey Halpin swinging at a 3-2 changeup.
“I just enjoyed the moment because it was a really good at-bat,” Peralta said. “It wasn’t an easy game since the first pitch that I threw until the last one. It was a lot of competition between me and the hitters. ... I think that was why I was fired up like that.”
Ramírez, whose two-run homer in Game 5 of their AL Division Series against Chicago helped the Guardians become the 11th team to overcome an 0-2 deficit in a best-of-five series, misplayed a grounder in the fourth inning that led to three unearned runs against rookie lefty Parker Messick.
Junior Caminero walked to start that inning and Victor Mesa Jr. grounded into a forceout originally ruled a double play. The Rays challenged the calls at both first and second and Mesa was ruled safe when a video review overturned the out decision by first base umpire Mark Ripperger.
After Jonny DeLuca struck out, Chandler Simpson beat out a high chopper to shortstop, and the Mesa reached third standing up when Ramírez failed to cover the bag.
Ben Williamson followed with a grounder that scooted underneath Ramírez’s glove and between his legs after the ball hit the edge where the artificial turf met the infield dirt. The third baseman played back rather than charging.
“It's a little bit faster here this type of surface,” Ramirez said through a translator. “It's frustrating. I feel bad.”
Williamson reached second and Simpson went to third. Hicks drove the next pitch to right-center for a 3-0 lead, electrifying the towel-waving, cowbell-ringing crowd of 32,125 fans at Tropicana Field.
Peralta and three relievers didn’t need any more support.
“I think the velocity really stood out,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said of Peralta.
Kevin Kelly got two outs in the seventh, retiring Ramírez on a fly ball to center with two runners on.
Lefty Ian Seymour replaced him and Chase DeLauter lined an RBI double to the right-field corner.
Seymour struck out Jo Adell swinging at a changeup, leaving runners at second and third. Seymour pitched a 1-2-3 eighth and Bryan Baker finished with a perfect ninth for his fourth postseason save.
Acquired by the Rays from the Mets at the trade deadline, Peralta turned around his season in Tampa Bay going 5-2 with a 3.25 ERA in 10 starts after posting a 4.99 ERA for New York.
He pitched his latest gem in front of Mets owner Steve Cohen, who was in attendance.
“We have a good relationship,” Peralta said of Cohen. “I think he’s awesome. And I’m happy that he was here watching, not watching me, watching the Rays.”
Messick, who grew up going to Rays games at the Trop, took the loss after giving up six hits and the three unearned runs in five innings.
Cleveland had won four straight in the postseason for the first time since winning their first six playoff games in 2016 on the way to a World Series berth.
The 98-win Rays swept the New York Yankees before a 7-3 loss in Game 1 on Monday.
That was their first loss in two weeks. Now, they're back on the winning track and need three more in a series that's reduced to a best of five to advance to their third World Series.
After batting cleanup in the first two games against the Yankees and sixth in Game 3 of that series, Hicks wasn't in the lineup against lefty Foster Griffin on Monday and batted eighth against Messick.
He doesn't care where he hits.
“This lineup is so good, you can hit anywhere in the lineup, and you’re not getting offended,” Hicks said. “There’s going to be opportunities.”
Caminero leaped to his left to snag Steven Kwan's hard liner to third in the fifth and then wagged a finger toward the batter. Caminero, who played all 162 games in the regular season and hit 42 home runs, was in the lineup after a collision with DeLuca on a foul ball in the ninth inning Monday night.
Rays RHP Griffin Jax (8-10, 3.52 ERA) starts Thursday night. He struck out four and gave up one run in two innings of relief against the Yankees. RHP Gavin Williams (14-8, 3.76) is expected to start for the Guardians. Williams started Games 2 and 5 against the White Sox and tossed an inning in relief in Game 4. He had 24 strikeouts in 11 2/3 innings, allowing two runs and six hits.
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