The Tampa Bay Rays are World Series bound.
After an MVP effort from starting pitcher Freddy Peralta, and some hits from Richie Palacios, Junior Caminero and Yandy Díaz, The Rays won 7-3 over the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 6 of the American League Championship Series on Monday.
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With the win, the Rays won the series 4-2 and clinched a date with the Brewers in the World Series. There, either the Rays or the Brewers will win the first Series in their franchise history. The Padres, Rockies, Mariners, Rays and Brewers are the five MLB teams that have never won a title.
Freddy Peralta delivers again, MVP. wins
With a chance to secure their spot against the Brewers, the Rays looked first to Freddy Peralta, who pitched a six-inning shutout in a Game 2 victory that tied the series at 1-1 and made two relief appearances in Game 4. Peralta pitched again Monday with 5 1/3 innings pitched in a shutout win over Tampa Bay.
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It wasn’t as clean a start as his Game 2 gem, and manager Kevin Cash pulled Peralta after he allowed his first run of the series on Nathaniel Lowe’s RBI single in the fifth. Still, Peralta held the game with Tampa Bay, taking a 3-1 lead, thanks in part to a double from Palacio.
Freddy Peralta earned ALCS MVP honors with his second win of the series on Monday.
(Julio Aguilar via Getty Images)
By the end of Monday, Peralta had given up 1 earned run on 5 hits and 3 walks with 3 strikeouts in 84 innings. And the second wins the series.
Peralta was good enough to win ALCS MVP honors, continuing his stellar run since his arrival in Tampa Bay via a midseason trade from the New York Mets. In 16 2/3 innings pitched, Peralta allowed two runs.
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Palacios gets Tampa Bay’s scoring binge started
Cleveland faced Peralta with a bullpen game, hoping to win Game 6 and hand the ball to ace Gavin Williams in Game 7. Shawn Armstrong got off to a strong start, needing just seven pitches in a 1-2-3 first inning. But he was led off at second after allowing a leadoff single that eventually produced a run.
With runners on second and third and two on in the second, Palacios blasted a double into right-center field to give the Rays a 2-0 lead.
Tampa Bay added another run in the third on a bases-loaded sacrifice fly by Jonny DeLuca.
The Rangers pulled one back in the top of the sixth, and then Junior Caminero delivered the Rays with a two-run home run to the left field goalpost to extend their lead to 5-1 in the seventh.
Guards apply pressure on the 8th
But victory for Tampa Bay was not yet at hand.
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The Rangers applied pressure in the eighth, loading the bases against Tyler Wells and Ian Seymour. Seymour came out of the bullpen with runners on first and second with two outs.
Travis Bazzan walked to load the bases. Patrick Bailey walked to score a run. Then pinch hitter Angel Martínez with a pitch to another Rangers run to score. With the lead at two runs, the home crowd cheered earlier at St. Petersburg got time.
With that, manager Kevin Cash called Kevin Kelly out of the bullpen to put out the fire. Kelly delivered an inning of hits against Brayan Rocchio to preserve Cleveland’s advantage at 5-3.
The tension in the top of the eighth was set up by Díaz to restart the party in the bottom frame.
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With a man on first and one out, he undoubtedly gave up a home run to left field to send the Tropicana Field crowd into a frenzy.
With a 7-3 lead and All-Star closer Bryan Baker in the ninth, the Rays and their fans could taste it. And Baker delivered with a 1-2-3 record to close out the game and clinch the AL pennant for Tampa Bay.
Next up is Game 1 against the Brewers on Friday in Milwaukee. That is enough time for both Parties to prepare for rest. A matchup of Brewers ace Jacob Misiorowski and Rays ace Drew Rasmussen could be in play in Game 1.