Freddy Peralta leads Rays to 6-2 victory vs. Mets

Marc Topkin, Tampa Bay Times on Sep 1, 2026

Published in Baseball

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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Since being acquired by the Rays a month ago, Freddy Peralta has been saying he is a different, more comfortable and better pitcher than during the first four months of the season with the Mets.

Tuesday, he went out and showed his ex-mates just what he meant in a 6-2 Tampa Bay victory.

Peralta allowed a leadoff home run and little else, working six strong innings and retiring his last 13 batters for his best performance with his new team.

Yandy Diaz led the Rays offense, doubling and scoring their first run in the first inning and then homering in the sixth. Victor Mesa Jr. returned from the injured list with a three-hit game. And reliever Tyler Wells got arguably the biggest out of the night, enticing the dangerous Juan Soto to pop out with the bases loaded to end the seventh.

The Rays improved their American League-leading record to 83-55 and maintained at least a 4 1/2-game East Division lead over the Yankees, who played late at the Angels. The Rays also reduced their magic number to clinch a playoff berth, per team calculations, to at least 11, pending the results of later games.

Peralta’s outing didn’t start well, as he gave up a home run on a 3-2 pitch to leadoff man Francisco Lindor, followed by a pair of one-out singles. But Peralta got out of the first without further damage and cruised from there. He allowed three hits and no walks (he hit one batter) while striking out seven, throwing 53 of his 74 pitches for strikes.

The Rays got the run back quickly off Mets starter Sean Manaea.

Diaz — who famously hit two home runs off Manaea in the 2019 American League wild-card game in Oakland — led off the first with a double and scored on a one-out single by Junior Caminero, who extended his career-best hitting streak to 15 games. That’s the longest by a Ray this season and the longest active such streak in the majors.

The Rays grabbed the lead in the third with a run that was a team effort, and then added on with a three-run sixth.

Mesa, activated Tuesday after two weeks on the injured list due to a left hamstring strain, opened the third with a single. He went to second on a sacrifice bunt by Taylor Walls and, after a Diaz walk, scored on a single by Ryan Vilade.

The three-run sixth started with a single by Chandler Simpson, who raced home on a double by Nick Fortes. Mesa’s right-side groundout moved Fortes to third, and he scored on a sacrifice fly by Walls.

Diaz made it 5-1 with his 21st homer of the season, a drive to left-center that carried 396 feet. Two innings earlier, he laced a ball on early the same path, but it was caught just short of the wall, measured at 379 feet. Diaz stood a few feet from home and stared out, in either disbelief or frustration.

The Mets started a bit of a comeback in the seventh, loading the bases off reliever Garrett Cleavinger with three walks around an out. Wells got an out, then walked Lindor to force in a run and bring Soto to the plate. He got him to pop up a 1-1 change-up for the final out of the inning.