Aranda Homers Twice as Rays Sweep Astros

Jonathan Aranda homered twice and drove in three runs as the Tampa Bay Rays pounded the Houston Astros 14-4 on Sunday in St. Petersburg, completing their majors-best 15th series sweep of the season. Freddy Peralta worked five no-hit innings before the Rays' bats finished the job.

That is September baseball with a playoff chase attached. The Rays improved to 90-59 and kept their American League East lead. Houston fell to 75-75 and is 2-6 in its last eight. Fantasy managers streaming Tampa Bay bats for a weekend stack just got the ceiling day.

Aranda's two long balls, Mesa nearly cycles

Aranda went opposite-field solo in the fourth to make it 8-0, then added another homer later as part of a three-RBI afternoon. Victor Mesa Jr. went 3-for-5 with three runs and two RBIs, falling a homer shy of the cycle. Richie Palacios was 2-for-4 with a three-run homer and two runs scored. Nick Fortes also went deep. Tampa Bay piled up 15 hits and went 4-for-9 with runners in scoring position.

The Rays scored early on Mesa's triple that plated Yandy Diaz and Junior Caminero, then kept pouring it on after a Jeremy Pena error opened the door for four unearned runs in the third. Palacios' three-run shot made it 7-0 before Aranda and Fortes kept stacking.

Peralta's no-hit start, then Houston's late noise

Peralta (9-11) won his fourth straight start. He struck out four, walked three, and left with an 11-0 lead after five hitless innings. Isaac Paredes finally spoiled the no-hitter with a sixth-inning homer. Nick Allen and Nelson Velazquez also homered later for Houston, which managed only four hits. Hayden Wesneski lasted three innings and allowed seven runs, four unearned.

Rays fans who packed Tropicana for a Sunday sweep got the full show: Aranda twice, Mesa almost cycling, Peralta carving through five. Astros fans saw another rough weekend on the road. Fifteen sweeps. Fourteen runs. Two Aranda homers. That is the Tampa Bay stamp.

AL-only fantasy managers who held Aranda through the quiet stretches just got the multi-homer reminder they needed in a pennant race. DFS stacks that locked Peralta with Tampa Bay hitters banked five hitless frames and a double-digit lead before the bullpen took over. The Rays keep sweeping. The East lead holds. Houston's .500 slide continues.

Two homers. Three RBIs. Fourteen to four. Fifteenth sweep. That is the Jonathan Aranda afternoon in St. Petersburg.