ST. PETERSBURG — Freddy Peralta lived up to his "Fastball Freddy" nickname as Tampa Bay beat Cleveland 3-1 on Tuesday night at Tropicana Field to tie the American League Championship Series at 1-1. The Rays right-hander fired six scoreless innings, the longest postseason outing of his career, to earn just the second postseason win of his career.
Peralta threw 99 pitches, his most as a member of the Rays, and relied almost exclusively on his heater with 71 four-seam fastballs for a 71.7% usage rate. That is his highest rate on the pitch in any start since June 11, 2019. He hit at least 97 mph on the radar gun 29 times, surpassing his career-best 20 times in his victory over the Yankees in AL Division Series Game 2.
The velocity peaked in the fifth inning when Peralta threw a 99.4 mph four-seamer that Jo Adell fouled off, the fastest pitch of his nine-year MLB career. He followed it with a 99.0 mph four-seamer that Adell lined out to center field to strand two runners. Peralta threw three four-seamers at 99.0 mph or faster in the game, something he had done only five times previously in his career entering Tuesday.
Peralta returned for the sixth and retired the Guardians in order, closing his outing with his sixth strikeout on a changeup in the zone to Petey Halpin. He let out a scream as he hopped off the mound while the Tropicana Field crowd serenaded the team's key Trade Deadline acquisition with chants of "Freddy! Freddy!"
Tampa Bay provided the run support with three runs in the fourth inning, all unearned after a two-out error by Guardians third baseman José Ramírez. The outburst put Peralta in line for the win and evened the series before it shifts after the split in St. Petersburg.