The Tampa Bay Rays defeated the Cleveland Guardians 3-1 on Tuesday night at Tropicana Field. With the win, the Rays have evened the best-of-seven ALCS 1-1 after splitting the first two games in St. Petersburg.
Freddy Peralta (1-0, 0.84) pitched six shutout innings to set the tone for Tampa Bay. He allowed four hits while striking out six and walking two. The outing follows an ALDS start against the Yankees in which he pitched four and two-third innings allowing just one run - he has a 0.84 earned run average through ten and two-third playoff innings so far for Tampa Bay.
The Rays offense took advantage of Cleveland mistakes in the fourth inning. The Rays broke a scoreless tie when Ben Williamson reached on a fielding error by Guardians third baseman Jose Ramirez that allowed Victor Mesa to score. Moments later Liam Hicks hit a two-run single that made it 3-0.
In the seventh inning Kevin Kelly came out of the Rays bullpen and allowed a hit and a walk before being pulled for Ian Seymour. Chase DeLauter then hit a RBI double to pull the Guardians within 3-1 - that run would go on Kelly's ledger. From there Seymour struck out Jo Adell and pitched a scoreless eighth inning to set up Bryan Baker. Baker worked a 1-2-3 ninth inning to earn his fourth save of the postseason - he has yet to allow a run in these playoffs.
The series will now shift to Cleveland for games three, four and five beginning on Thursday night. Griffin Jax (0-0, 4.50) is scheduled to be the Rays starting pitcher in game four on Thursday night. First pitch Thursday is scheduled for 6:00 PM - pregame coverage begins with Ronnie Lane hosting Inside Pitch at 5:00 PM on 95.7 WDAE & AM 620, your Home of Rays Baseball.
COVER PHOTO COURTESY GETTY IMAGES