Ramirez Error Helps Rays Even ALCS at 1-1

One hop at Tropicana Field flipped the American League Championship Series. Jose Ramirez watched a fourth-inning grounder skip under his glove and between his legs Tuesday night, and the Tampa Bay Rays turned that break into a 3-1 win that evened the ALCS at one game apiece.

Ben Williamson's ball took a funny bounce where the artificial turf meets the dirt. Ramirez, playing back, could not glove it. Victor Mesa Jr. scored, Chandler Simpson and Williamson moved up, and Liam Hicks ripped the next pitch to right-center for a two-run single. Just like that it was 3-0, and Freddy Peralta made sure it stuck.

Peralta's fastball set the tone

Peralta threw six innings of four-hit, scoreless ball with six strikeouts on 99 pitches. His four-seam sat at 96.9 mph on average, 2.6 above his season mark, and he touched a career-high 99.4. Seventy-one of those pitches were fastballs. The crowd chanted his name as he pumped his fist walking off after punching out Petey Halpin in the sixth.

"It's no secret that I trust in my fastball a lot and it's my best pitch," Peralta said. He called the adrenaline and the competition the fuel. Acquired from the Mets at the deadline, he went 5-2 with a 3.25 ERA in 10 Rays starts after a 4.99 ERA in New York. Mets owner Steve Cohen was in the building watching the rematch.

Parker Messick took the loss for Cleveland. The rookie lefty allowed six hits and those three unearned runs over five innings. A replay review had already kept Mesa safe at first on what looked like a double play earlier in the inning, so the Guardians never got the clean inning they needed.

Ramirez owns the miss

Ramirez, whose two-run homer in ALDS Game 5 helped Cleveland climb out of an 0-2 hole against the White Sox, did not hide from the play. "It's a little bit faster here this type of surface," he said through a translator. "It's frustrating. I feel bad."

Cleveland's only run came in the seventh when Chase DeLauter doubled home Patrick Bailey. Kevin Kelly, Ian Seymour, and Bryan Baker closed it from there. Baker finished a perfect ninth for his fourth postseason save. Junior Caminero also robbed Steven Kwan with a leaping grab in the fifth and gave him the finger wag for good measure.

Best of five from here

The 98-win Rays had swept the Yankees before dropping Game 1 by a 7-3 score Monday. Now the series shifts to Progressive Field for Game 3 on Thursday night, with Griffin Jax lined up for Tampa Bay and Gavin Williams expected for Cleveland. Guardians fans will want a cleaner night from their star third baseman. Rays fans will take the counterpunch and ask Peralta's fastball for an encore somewhere down the stretch.