Newcomers Peralta, Siri Combine for Winning Run in Rays' 3-2 Victory Over Blue Jays
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — David Peralta has played a lot of baseball in his life, but certain moments are still special. One came on Wednesday, when he got the game-winning hit in Tampa Bay's 3-2 win over the Toronto Blue Jays.
It was his first game-winner with his new team after coming over in a trade with th Arizona Diamondbacks last weekend. And it felt oh so sweet.
The first time always does.
"I had a lot of pressure on me today, and let me tell you why,'' Peralta said with a grin on his face. "I got here Sunday, and we lost. Yesterday we lost, and I said, 'come on, David, you've got to do something' because we needed to start winning.
"This felt really good today. It's always good when you do something special to help your team win. It's been good so far, and it's a really good group of guys.''
Peralta and fellow newcomer Jose Siri, who arrived Monday after a trade with the Houston Astros, teamed up to give the Rays the lead in the sixth inning. With the score tied at 2-2, Siri led off with a single to left field, his first hit with the Rays after going 0-for-3 on Tuesday night in a loss to Toronto and striking out in his first two at-bats on Wednesday. He stole second, advanced to third on a groundout to the right side by Randy Arozarena and scored on Peralta's single.
It was Peralta's first RBI in a Tampa Bay uniform after nine years in Arizona, and it was the two new guys who helped the Rays end a 3-8 skid out of the All-Star break.
It was a big deal for everyone in the Rays' clubhouse.
Welcome to the club, guys.
"It's awesome. They're already great guys fitting right in with the clubhouse, so that's awesome,'' said Rays reliever Jason Adam, who pitched a perfect ninth inning to get the save. ''And then to see the big go-ahead hit out of Peralta, we're thrilled to have those guys here.''
With the win, the Rays (55-49) moved back to three games behind Toronto (58-46) in the American League wild-card race and they're now 6-4 against the Blue Jays this season, with four of the wins coming in games where they held the Toronto lineup — the best in the AL — to two runs or less.
The Rays did that with a bullpen day, too. Jalen Beeks started as the ''opener,'' but lasted just one inning, struggling with his command. He allowed a first-inning run on 30 pitches, and then Ryan Yarbrough came in and pitched well for the third-straight outing, going four innings and allowing only a solo home run to Teoscar Hernandez in the fourth inning.
The Rays had tied the game at 1-1 in the third inning. Right fielder Roman Quinn was hit by a pitch, catcher Rene Pinto singled and Yandy Diaz walked to load the bases with one out. First baseman Isaac Paredes hit a sacrifice to bring in the first run.
The Rays tied it right back up in the bottom of the fourth too after the Hernandez homer. Randy Arozarena and Peralta opened the inning with singles, and Arozarena advanced to third on a fly ball. He scored on a groundout by Taylor Walls to make it 2-2.
Siri's aggressiveness on the basepaths had a lot to do with the sixth-inning go-ahead run. He had the green light to steal and took it, which is part of his makeup anyway. He does everything full-go.
"I'm just trying to give some energy to the guys,'' Siri said. "I'm aggressive. If I know the pitchers, I'm ready to go, first pitch, second pitch, whenever it's going to be. If he's slow, I'm gone.
"Everything (is aggressive), running, hitting, in the dugout, on the field, even at my house.''
Siri is impressed with the veteran Peralta, too.
"He's a great player and he makes a lot of contact,'' Siri said. "If he hits the ball, I'm ready to go, first to third, or to score.''
The bullpen did its thing too, which has been a staple for much of this season, even though there's been a few bumps lately. After Yarbrough, Ryan Thompson pitched two perfect innings, Pete Fairbanks pitched a scoreless eight and Adam was perfect in the ninth for his fifth save of the season.
The bullpen loves these ''opener'' days, because they know there's going to be a long parade of relievers to the mound. They're all in it together.
"Any time we can shut that lineup down like that, that's a big win for us,'' Adam said. "That's the cool thing about the bullpen. you sit down there all season long and you get close to those guys. To see Ryan (Thompson) shove like that was great. All the guys pitched awesome and it's great to watch everybody succeed.
The Rays hit the road now, playing four games in Detroit this weekend. They're off on Monday but then will play two games in Milwaukee. Leaving on a good note means a lot after two weeks of struggles.
It really meant a lot to Yarbrough. The Rays had lost 10 straight games that he had pitching in, so being able to celebrate feels good.
"It's huge, especially ending the homestand on a good note against a division foe that we're chasing in the wild-card,'' Yarbrough said. "It was great seeing the new guys do that today. Can't ever complain, talking after a victory.
"The bullpen has been one of our biggest strengths all year — if not our biggest strength — and you know you're in good hands when you leave the ballgame and they come in and shut the door. We can't thank them enough for all they do.''
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Tom Brew is the publisher of Inside The Rays, and has been with the Sports Illustrated/FanNation network for three years. He is an award-winning writer and editor who has spent most of his four-decade career at the Tampa Bay Times, Indianapolis Star and South Florida Sun-Sentinel. He has written four books.