By Rays Overcome Freddy Peralta’s Rough Debut, Rally Past Rockies 9-7 in 11 Innings
On Tuesday night, the Tampa Bay Rays proved they could overcome an ugly pitching performance, ride a dominant bullpen, and lean on their newest offensive addition to pull out one of their grittiest victories of the season.
Despite a difficult Rays debut from newly acquired starter Freddy Peralta, Tampa Bay rallied from a two-run deficit to defeat the Colorado Rockies 9-7 in 11 innings.
With the win, the Rays improve to 67-46 on the season, maintaining a 3.5-game lead over the New York Yankees atop the American League East.
With just 50 games remaining in the regular season, every victory is important in the close race between the Rays and Yankees in the AL East.
Liam Hicks Makes Instant Impression
One of the quickest ways to earn the respect of a new clubhouse is to help your team win.
Newly acquired catcher Liam Hicks wasted little time doing exactly that.
Playing in his first game with Tampa Bay after being acquired from Miami at the trade deadline, Hicks launched a towering grand slam in the third inning, his 15th home run of the season and first as a Ray.
The blast gave Tampa Bay what appeared to be a comfortable 5-1 advantage and electrified the home crowd.
Instead, the game was just getting started.
Colorado answered immediately, capitalizing on Peralta’s struggles to erase the deficit before taking a 7-5 lead after three innings.
Peralta’s Debut Doesn’t Go as Planned
The Rays acquired Peralta believing the veteran right-hander could provide stability and postseason experience to an already talented rotation.
His first outing in a Tampa Bay uniform, however, was one he’d rather forget.
Peralta surrendered seven runs on nine hits over 3 2/3 innings, with the Rockies doing all of their damage before he exited the game.
Afterward, Peralta said he felt sharp entering the contest.
“I was feeling great with everything,” Peralta said. “I thought I pitched well in the first two innings.”
When asked what changed during Colorado’s decisive third inning, Peralta admitted he didn’t have an answer.
“They did a really good job against me,” Peralta said.
“I’ve been struggling a little bit, but I know this is a new opportunity, and people have been helping me really well here. I know I’m going to get better because we’re going to work for that.”
While the final line was disappointing, the Rays remain confident the veteran will settle in as he becomes more comfortable with his new club.
Bullpen Gives Rays a Chance
If there was a silver lining from Peralta’s debut, it was the outstanding work of Tampa Bay’s bullpen.
After the starter departed, Rays relievers combined to throw 7 1/3 scoreless innings, completely shutting down the Rockies’ offense and giving Tampa Bay’s lineup time to mount its comeback.
The bullpen’s effort kept the game within reach and underscored one of the organization’s greatest strengths entering the stretch run.
Aranda Delivers, Caminero Finishes It
Trailing 7-5 entering the ninth inning, the Rays refused to go quietly.
Jonathan Aranda came through with one of the biggest hits of the night, lining a two-run single to tie the game and force extra innings.
In the 11th, Tampa Bay finally broke through.
Ben Williamson scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch before Junior Caminero added an insurance RBI single with two outs to extend the lead to 9-7.
Closer Bryan Baker then slammed the door in the bottom of the inning, striking out two batters to record his 23rd save of the season.
Baker has now converted 32 of his 34 save opportunities this year, continuing to provide stability at the back end of the Rays’ bullpen.
A Win That Could Mean More Than One Game
Tuesday night’s victory wasn’t pretty, but it may prove to be one of the more meaningful wins of the season.
Peralta will almost certainly have better outings ahead.
But with big hits by Hicks, Aranda, Caminero and another lights-out bullpen performance, the Rays made sure his rocky debut didn’t cost them in the standings.
