The Tampa Bay Rays bounced back in Game 2 of the American League Championship Series (ALCS), evening the best-of-seven series at one game apiece.
On Wednesday, the Rays edged out the Cleveland Guardians 3-1 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.
After dropping the series opener 7-3 to Cleveland, Tampa Bay has now leveled the playing field with the series tied at 1-1.
The battle continues with Game 3 scheduled for October 16 at Progressive Field in Cleveland.
Rays’ starter Freddy Peralta was lights out, tossing six scoreless innings while scattering four hits, walking two, and fanning six batters.
At the plate, catcher Liam Hicks, batting eighth, came up clutch with a 2-for-3 performance, driving in two runs.
Tampa Bay broke the scoreless tie in the fourth inning, capitalizing on a Cleveland miscue to put up a crooked number.
With two outs and runners on the corners, Cleveland third baseman José Ramírez botched a routine grounder off the bat of Ben Williamson, allowing Victor Mesa Jr. to scamper home for the game’s first run.
Hicks then delivered the knockout punch with a two-run single, stretching the lead to 3-0. What should have been a scoreless frame turned into a three-run outburst for the Rays.
Clinging to their 3-0 advantage, Tampa Bay saw their lead trimmed in the seventh when Chase Drouther laced a two-out, run-scoring double with runners on first and second.
However, with the tying runs in scoring position, Ian Seymour came up big, striking out Joe Adele to escape the jam.
Seymour went on to work 1⅓ scoreless innings, bridging the gap to Brian Baker, who slammed the door with a perfect ninth to seal the win for Tampa Bay.