After clinching a spot in the playoffs, the Tampa Bay Rays were not interested in taking Saturday night off.
The American League’s top team stretched its lead in the East Division to four games in a 3-2 win over Houston and will try to sweep the Astros on Sunday afternoon in St. Petersburg, Fla.
So far, it’s been a weekend to remember for the Rays (89-59), who have started their nine-game homestand with two slim victories over the AL West-leading Astros (75-74).
It was Junior Caminero’s heroics with a walk-off homer Friday, but reliever Bryan Baker crafted his second save of at least four outs this season to end any chance Houston had of squaring the series and gaining ground on the second-place Texas Rangers.
“I definitely didn’t expect it,” replied Baker, who notched his majors-high 40th save, when told he had converted 29 in a row. “When you’re a part of such a good team and you get in those situations, a lot of good things can happen. It’s a team stat.”
Houston’s scheduled starter on Sunday, Hayden Wesneski (5-1, 3.35 ERA), has had only eight starts in 2026, but the Houston native has been on a roll since returning from Tommy John surgery.
The 28-year-old right-hander has been reliable in a rotation that desperately needed stability, and the most important thing he has supplied is quality innings deeper into games.
That ability became more important at the trade deadline last month when the Astros’ rotation was weakened after the team dealt Spencer Arrighetti to the Toronto Blue Jays for Gold Glove outfielder Daulton Varsho, then did not add another pitcher.
The Astros pitcher has won three of his past four starts, going 3-0 with a 1.57 ERA and perhaps throwing his best game two starts ago against the Chicago White Sox but getting no decision.
Over seven shutout innings, he allowed just a third-inning single to Tristan Peters and only five base-runners overall as Houston won 2-0 at home on Sept. 2.
“We have a really good analytics side,” said Wesneski, whose squad is 7-1 in his starts. “They help us out with the pitching and the preparation. … Being prepared really does put you in a good spot going out there.”
Wesneski has no record and a 1.69 ERA in two relief outings against the Rays, who appear to have found the version of Freddy Peralta they were hoping to have traded for.
Following the right-hander’s first two starts with his new club after the trade deadline — terrible outings that more closely resembled his half-season with the New York Mets — the Rays have worked with Peralta (8-11, 4.82 ERA) and brought about good results heading into his start on Sunday.
In those first two starts at the Colorado Rockies and Athletics, Peralta surrendered 10 runs in 9 2/3 innings, but he has turned it around in the past three outings and looks like the pitcher nicknamed “Fastball Freddy.”
The 30-year-old has tossed 18 innings and allowed just two runs and 10 hits while fanning 13, with just one walk, in those three outings. His 3-0 record and 1.00 ERA in that span show he is pointed in the right direction.
Added manager Kevin Cash: “The last three (starts) for us is probably a closer version to the guy he’s been his entire career.”
In two starts and a relief outing against Houston, Peralta is 0-2 with a 10.24 ERA.
–Field Level Media
