CLEVELAND — Freddy Peralta turned a scheduled bullpen session into a high-stakes relief appearance Saturday night at Progressive Field, recording two critical outs to preserve a lead and send the Tampa Bay Rays to a 7-3 victory over Cleveland in Game 4 of the American League Championship Series, knotting the series at 2.
Peralta entered in the bottom of the sixth inning with a runner on first and one out, inheriting a 2-1 lead after right-hander Nick Martinez’s start ended. The two-time All-Star got Steven Kwan to fly out to center field, issued a walk to José Ramírez, then retired Chase DeLauter on a fly ball to center to close the inning. The nine-pitch, four-strike outing featured a four-seam fastball that averaged 97.5 mph and peaked at 99.1 mph.
“He was all eager to come in and do it. Then showed why,” manager Kevin Cash said. “A lot of power. Got huge outs for us.”
Martinez was direct about what Peralta’s appearance meant. “He saved me,” Martinez said. “He saved our game today.”
The plan had been in place since Friday, when Game 4 was postponed due to inclement weather. Tampa Bay’s coaching staff had prepared Peralta to be available out of the bullpen that day, and with the game moved to Saturday, the setup remained the same — replacing his routine between-starts bullpen session with a live appearance.
“With a lot more intensity,” Peralta said with a smile, noting the difference from a standard side session. “I never throw my bullpens probably over 88 mph. So, that’s the only difference.”
Peralta’s most recent relief outing before Saturday had come with the Milwaukee Brewers in Game 3 of the 2024 National League Wild Card Series against the Mets. Earlier in his Milwaukee tenure, relief work was routine — 45 of his 54 outings across the 2019 and 2020 seasons came out of the bullpen.
Catcher Liam Hicks said the move surprised no one in the clubhouse. “He’s such a good person, such a good teammate. You can tell all he wants to do is win,” Hicks said. “It’s really cool to see that guy stepping up, really willing to do any role that the team asks of him just to get wins.”
Peralta, 30, deflected attention after the game with characteristic humor. “I’m just a reliever,” he said with a smile. “Why do you want to talk to me?”
The win gave Tampa Bay exactly what it needed heading into the final stretch. “Amazing, man. It was a huge game for us, because now, we tied the series,” Peralta said. “We have the opportunity to win tomorrow again, and then go back to Tampa.”
Drew Rasmussen is scheduled to start Sunday’s Game 5 in Cleveland. Peralta is the most likely candidate to take the mound for Game 6 on Monday, with the series returning to Tampa if necessary.