Postseason Peralta Lifts Rays Past Guardians: 3 Takeaways From ALCS Game 2

TROPICANA FIELD (St.

Petersburg, Fla.) — Game 2 of the ALCS was simple for the Rays.

Just win.

After watching a two-run lead slip away in Monday’s series opener, the last thing Tampa Bay wanted was to fall further behind against the Guardians and leave their home turf in a serious deficit.

So all they had to do was respond.

Rays manager Kevin Cash liked the way his players walked into the ballpark on Tuesday after suffering a deflating loss.

He thought they were in a good headspace to even the series, reset the matchup, and regain their confidence.

So they did.

The Rays defeated the Guardians, 3-1, on Tuesday night at Tropicana Field on the strength of their pitching and usual basepath pressure.

Here are my takeaways: The Rays are always creating pressure on the basepaths.

They’re adept at spotting weaknesses in their opposition and exposing those flaws.

And yet, even the Rays had to be surprised at the Guardians player who made not one, but two eyebrow-raising mistakes in a pivotal fourth inning.

Guardians third baseman Jose Ramirez forgot to cover the bag in one play.

In another, he committed a fielding error when he couldn’t corral a ground ball that was hit to the hot corner.