The Rays beat the Guardians 7-3 in Game 6 of the ALCS on Monday at Tropicana Field. They won the series four games to two and the American League pennant. Freddy Peralta was named ALCS MVP after two starts and one relief appearance, per CBS Sports' Mike Axisa. Peralta got the win in the clincher.
He was not dominant by the numbers. Our box score has him going 5.1 innings, allowing five hits and one earned run, walking three and striking out three over 84 pitches. Cam Booser, Tyler Wells, Ian Seymour, Kevin Kelly and Bryan Baker finished it. Booser threw 1.2 hitless innings, and Baker took the ninth. Cleveland stranded 18 and Tampa Bay 19 in a game that had 11 walks between them. The Rays' bullpen was never in real trouble. Chase DeLauter popped out to catcher Liam Hicks to end it.
The offense did the rest. Yahoo Sports said Junior Caminero and Yandy Díaz each hit a two-run homer. Richie Palacios added two hits and two RBIs. Tampa Bay scored two in the second and one in the third. It added two in the seventh and two in the eighth, which held off a Cleveland rally that scored twice in the eighth. Caminero hit 42 home runs this season and Díaz hit 22, so both homers fit the regular-season pattern.
Peralta's year was less obviously headed for this. The right-hander finished 10-11 with a 4.42 ERA and 156 strikeouts in 169.0 innings over 32 games. CBS Sports said the Rays acquired him from the Mets at the trade deadline and that his turnaround helped carry them to the World Series. None of the reporting we have explains the trade or what changed for him. The Mets finished 74-88, fifth in the NL East.
The World Series opponent is the Brewers, which MLB.com's headline frames as Peralta's old team. Milwaukee finished 103-59, five more wins than Tampa Bay's 98-64, and enters on a five-game winning streak after beating the Dodgers on Oct. 15. Yahoo's Jason Owens noted that either the Rays or the Brewers will win the first championship in their franchise's history. Tampa Bay won the Guardians series after taking Games 3 and 4 on the road by 3-1 and 7-3. Cleveland won the AL Central at 85-77.
Fri, Oct 23, 8:00 PM ET
The World Series opens Friday, Oct. 23, with the Rays at Milwaukee. The reporting we have does not say who starts Game 1.
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