Baseball, MLB

Freddy Peralta: A Ray of Sunshine for Tampa Bay in Game 2 of ALCS

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — Freddy Peralta was acquired by Tampa Bay this summer for many reasons.

One was for the All-Star’s ability on the mound despite a rough start to 2026 with the Mets. Another being the 2024 National League LatinoMVP Pitcher of the Year’s ways of continuing to find himself in the moment and answering the call for his team.

With the Rays down 1-0 in their best of seven American League Championship Series against Cleveland, the 30-year-old, of Moca, Dominican Republic, Peralta, held the Guardians scoreless across six innings of work Tuesday night at Tropicana Field with six strikeouts.

Freddy Peralta has 4 strikeouts through 2 innings 💪 pic.twitter.com/K1fQoc7P5z

— MLB (@MLB) October 14, 2026

Returning to his old Brewers self was the two-time All-Star, dominating across the month of September (0.96 ERA in 28 innings)—Peralta’s first full month as a Ray—which earned him AL Pitcher of the Month honors.

“When I got traded, I got here and I felt like myself again,” he said following Tampa Bay’s 3-1 victory in Game 2 of the ALCS, evening up the series at one, with the battle now shifting to Cleveland, Ohio.

“I was confident in myself, confident in the defense and the offense that I have behind me. And thank God always for the opportunity to be part of these unbelievable games.”

Freddy Peralta, Elevated 96mph ⛽️ pic.twitter.com/qoA8KxBoa9

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) October 14, 2026

Said Rays manager Kevin Cash postgame: “I don’t think we’d ever expect, ‘hey, we’re going to acquire a guy and he’s going to win pitcher of the month three weeks later.’ We were very fortunate to get him. I give our scouts and certainly (Rays President of Baseball Operations) Erik (Neander) and his group a ton of credit for recognizing and appreciating that Freddy Peralta wasn’t that far removed from the Freddy Peralta in Milwaukee. And we have certainly reaped the benefits of him.”

Peralta reaped the benefits of the adrenaline postseason atmospheres provide, recording the fastest pitch of his career at 99.4-MPH in his ALCS Game 2 outing. Even more noteworthy because it came on Peralta’s 84th pitch of his 99 on the night.

That first pitch to Jo Adell was the fastest pitch of Freddy Peralta's career, including playoffs, at 99.4 mph

— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) October 14, 2026

“It plays a big role, the adrenaline,” he noted. “And also I define myself as a competitor and I like these kinds of games. I’ve always said in the past that I enjoy this (a postseason atmosphere) as a Dominican pitcher. We always were watching these types of games in the D.R., so that’s the game that we saw and got used to growing up and watching.”

Freddy Always Ready

In the sixth, his final inning on the bump, it was gut check time for Peralta and Cash, with the right-hander getting close to 100 pitches and Cleveland’s left-handed hitting center fielder Petey Halpin coming up with two outs. Halpin, already recording a hit earlier in the game, as Peralta was trying to complete six innings for the first time in his postseason career, battled through a nine-pitch at-bat and was finally put away on a changeup.

Freddy Peralta: FIRED UP 🔥 pic.twitter.com/EUdqQZ5EvZ

— MLB (@MLB) October 14, 2026

The end of Peralta’s eighth career postseason start—six with the Brewers and another this year in Game 2 of ALDS against the Yankees (4.2 innings with one run allowed and three strikeouts) before Tuesday night (6.0 innings with no runs allowed and six Ks).

“Freddy threw a really good game tonight,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. “We had our chances. We had a lot of chances, but we weren’t able to come up with the big hit.”

Looking Ahead to Game 3 of ALCS

With the ALCS nodded up at one and Game 3 scheduled for Thursday, October 15th, at 1:00pm ET at Progressive Field, the Rays will hand the ball to RHP Griffin Jax (8-10, 3.53 ERA), while the Guardians go with RHP Gavin Williams (14-8, 3.78 ERA), who will pitch on regular rest.