ST. PETERSBURG -- “Fastball Freddy” officially joined the Rays on Sunday afternoon at Tropicana Field.
Making his third appearance and first home start for Tampa Bay, Freddy Peralta cruised into the fifth inning with little difficulty. Leaning almost exclusively on his signature four-seamer, the right-hander allowed just one hit and one walk. This was the guy the Rays wanted at the Trade Deadline.
Then came the fifth inning, the turning point for Peralta and the Rays in a 10-2 loss to the Orioles at Tropicana Field, their third straight defeat on the heels of an unbeaten nine-game road trip.
Peralta walked two of the first three batters he faced but recorded two outs. With the lineup turning over, manager Kevin Cash emerged from the dugout and made the difficult decision to pull Peralta in favor of left-hander Garrett Cleavinger after 4 2/3 innings and 76 pitches (40 strikes).
Eight pitches later, a game-tying single by Jackson Holliday and a two-run double by Pete Alonso erased the Rays’ 1-0 lead and altered the entire outlook on Peralta’s afternoon.
“He did a nice job for us. Just felt that, in that moment, it was a really big at-bat. He had done his job,” Cash said. “Very tough call, and certainly not happy or pleased with the way it worked out for him. You hate to see that happen.”
There were, without question, continued signs of progress from the veteran starter after a rough stint with the Mets, a shaky Rays debut in Colorado and a quality start against the A’s last time out. For one, Peralta again showed how he can silence a lineup with his heater.
Peralta’s fastball was so effective that he threw it 52 times while mixing in only 24 secondary offerings. He recorded 12 swinging strikes overall, including 11 on his fastball.
“All my pitches were working great. We were using the fastball a lot because we didn't see any, like, really hard contact,” Peralta said. “They didn't look comfortable at all. That's why we kept using it, and I felt comfortable all the way.”
Peralta allowed just one hit, a softly hit single by Yohel Pozo, while retiring 14 of the 18 batters he faced. After extensive work on his mechanics with pitching coach Kyle Snyder and bullpen coach Jorge Moncada, he regained some of the extension in his delivery.
After pitching in hitter-friendly environments at Coors Field and Sutter Health Park, he benefited from the Trop’s more spacious dimensions and some terrific outfield defense, highlighted by Ryan Vilade running down a Gunnar Henderson fly ball, slamming into the wall and starting an inning-ending double play in the first inning.
“I felt really good, really good in general, and I was feeling amazing mechanically, mentally, physically,” Peralta said. “Everything was in the spot that I want it to be.”
Meanwhile, Vilade blasted a Statcast-projected 441-foot solo shot to center off Trevor Rogers in the fourth inning. That gave Tampa Bay its first -- and only -- lead through the first 28 innings of this series. But it was quickly erased by an abrupt, frustrating ending for Peralta.
Cash said he appreciated the way Peralta handled the situation, and Peralta didn’t take issue with his manager’s move when asked about it after the game.
“I respect his decision,” Peralta said. “He knows why he did it, and I respect his decision. That’s all I have to say about that.”
In Friday’s series opener, Cleavinger got into a jam that Kevin Kelly couldn’t escape and took the loss. This time, he couldn’t clean up the minor mess that Peralta made. The lefty got ahead of Holliday, 0-2, but couldn’t put him away. The same scenario unfolded against Alonso, who climbed out of an 0-2 hole and pulled an up-and-in fastball to left for a tiebreaking double.
“It sucks. I’m kind of struggling to let things go right now, and this game has a funny way of kicking you when you’re down,” Cleavinger said. “It’s a tough one to swallow. I thought I made some decent pitches – they could always be better – but hopefully just move on to the next one.”
It only got worse from there. After Steven Matz quickly retired the first two batters he faced in the sixth, he and Joe Boyle wound up allowing seven runs in a 59-pitch inning. That put the game out of reach for the Rays, who lost their sixth straight matchup against the Orioles and must win Monday night’s series finale to avoid a four-game sweep.
“In a 162-game season, you’re going to have three days like this. I’m not really thinking anything about it,” Vilade said. “We were in both those games earlier in the weekend, and this one kind of got away from us. We’ll be ready for tomorrow.”