Rays Tie ALCS at 1-1 Behind Peralta's Six Strong Innings

Tampa Bay Rays beat the Cleveland Guardians 3-1 Tuesday night at Tropicana Field to tie the American League Championship Series at 1-1. The Guardian

It is a best-of-seven series. First team to four wins goes to the World Series. The split sends the series to Cleveland for Game 3 on Thursday night.

Freddy Peralta got the win for Tampa Bay. The two-time All-Star pitched six innings of four-hit ball and struck out six. He escaped an early jam in the second by striking out Brayan Rocchio.

Peralta joined the Rays at the trade deadline from the New York Mets. He went 5-2 with a 3.25 ERA in 10 starts for Tampa Bay after posting a 4.99 ERA in New York. ERA stands for earned run average, the earned runs a pitcher allows per nine innings.

All three Tampa Bay runs were unearned. Cleveland third baseman Jose Ramirez mishandled a grounder in the fourth, and the inning continued. Catcher Liam Hicks, another deadline pickup, followed with a two-run single for a 3-0 lead.

Cleveland starter Parker Messick took the loss in his hometown start. He allowed six hits and three unearned runs in five innings. Unearned means the runs do not count against his ERA because they followed the error.

Cleveland scored in the seventh on Chase DeLauter's RBI double. Tampa Bay reliever Bryan Baker then retired the side in order in the ninth for his fourth save of this postseason. A save means finishing a close win. The announced attendance was 32,125.

The 98-win Rays swept the New York Yankees in the Division Series, the playoff round before this one, then dropped the opener 7-3 on Monday. In that Game 1 comeback for Cleveland, DeLauter and Patrick Bailey each hit solo homers. Yahoo Sports

Cleveland had won four straight postseason games before Tuesday. That was its longest playoff streak since winning its first six games in 2016. The Guardians had just become the 11th team to rally from 2-0 down in a best-of-five series, beating Chicago behind Ramirez's two-run homer in the deciding Game 5.

What makes this stand out is how fast one play tilted the night. One grounder opened the door. Peralta and the bullpen shut it.